The Audacity of Stupidity

I was in the middle of a Warcraft raid today when I heard the helicopter buzzing around the neighborhood. Sometimes, we will hear it, and it goes away within a few minutes. I did note, that the helicopter seemed to be buzzing around longer than usual.

Later this evening, I found out why. To make a long story short, some douche bag thought it would be a good idea to hold a knife to his own mother's throat, while police officers had guns drawn on him. The situation ended when a sniper shot the 18-year old, killing him.

Mr. Recommendation happened to overhear some women commenting on the event. No words uttered about what kind of boy would use his mother as a meat shield. No admonishment for a son who would put a knife to his own mother's throat. No...all the contempt was saved for the police, who shot this young boy.

"They be knowin' he wouldn't hurt his Momma!" one exclaimed, to the agreeance of the other mother hens standing nearby.

No, ma'am. They really don't. They only know that this 18 year old has a penchant for holding people up with weapons. They don't know what he likes to do in his spare time (aside from holding people up with weapons). They don't know whether he's strung out or mentally ill. All they know is what they see in front of their face...and that is a young man holding a knife to his mother's throat. Police are trained to anticipate worst-case scenarios and try to prevent them from happening. Nurses and doctors are trained the same way.

Sure, we would like to think that kids don't kill their parents, and parents don't kill their children, but we hear stories all the time that refute this. Who's to say that had police waited, assuming he "wouldn't hurt his Momma", we would be hearing that he slit her throat and her exsanguination was caught on live television?

I can't wait for the outcries to pour in, because it's only a matter of time. How Little Johnny was a good boy, on his way home from church to see his mother, when he was gunned down for no reason. All he had in his hand was his trusty Swiss army knife he got when he was awarded his Eagle Scout. Gunned down by heartless cops who have nothing better to do than shoot harmless Precious Snowflakes.

You know it's going to happen. Get your popcorn ready.