Entitled...

I don’t get it. I don’t get what makes people think they have a right. I don’t understand what makes people think they are so entitled.

Today was the shooting at John’s Hopkins. I happened to be at the John’s Hopkins at Greenspring Station while it was happening. I’m grateful I was nowhere near where this event took place. However, there was a lot of concern and slight chaos even where I was. Patients had come from the city, coworkers were very concerned about friends over at Nelson. I’d never heard so many people talking in that office. People were concerned, excited, anxious, but not surprised. This has become “everyday” for us. “Oh, did you hear about the guy holding people hostage at the Discovery Channel building?” Just another day here… And I don’t mean just the DC/Baltimore metro area…I mean the good ole USA. Maybe I’ve been naive but when did it get like this?

When did it become OK to hold people hostage and put the fear of God into them because you’re unhappy with your TV programming? When did it become OK to shoot a doctor because you’re not happy with your mother’s medical care? When did it become OK to kill your kids because you just didn’t think you could handle being a parent? Some would argue it was when 9/11 happened but it’s been happening for much longer than that. Some argue it’s a race issue, a religion issue, an economic issue. I’m not going to argue that there aren’t still plenty of racist people out there, people who judge based on religion or economic status. I know it’s there. It’s WRONG. But it’s there. Anyway, maybe in some cases it is a race/religion/economic issue. I think it’s more than that. I think people feel they’re entitled to something.

We don’t always get what we fricking want. That’s life. Life is hard. It’s hard as shit. Some people are dealt a harder hand than others. I feel for those people. I truly do. To the dude at Johns Hopkins today, I’m truly very sorry that your mother may not have been getting the care that you felt she deserved. However, you have no right to go into a hospital with a gun and shoot a doctor and put other people’s lives at risk. If you want to fight, fight the way the rest of the world has to fight. File complaints, go to the board, go to the news stations, but what you did is wrong. Be productive when you fight. Fight in a way that may help others too. We’re all here together, we’re all working together, and you’re not the only one suffering.

There are so many people out there who are angry. Angry about their jobs, angry about school, angry about how they’re treated, angry with the government. It’s fine, get angry, you have a right to be angry. I’m angry about things. But you do not have a right to take other people’s lives or put other people’s lives in jeopardy. This is my life, and I make my own decision about my life – not some jerk who’s decided he has a point to make.