Sometimes things dawn on you at the most inconvenient times. Recently, I was sitting in a pub called The Bloody Stream (it was built over a stream where a battle was fought in 1177) in Howth, Ireland. I was there with my husband and friends to hoist a few pints. As we sat at the bar, the television was tuned to the Irish version of CNN, and that’s how I heard Tom Petty died and some lunatic killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas.
All around me, I kept hearing the same words used to describe the shooter: “f*cking idiot.” The Irish love their beer, but they also love the f-bomb more than any other word. It is used constantly, including by women who easily could be strolling the halls of an upscale retirement home.
Petty’s death and the mass shooting nagged at me. Maybe it was because the news kept playing one of Petty’s songs over and over again: “I will stand my ground. And I won’t back down. Well, I know what’s right, I got just one life.” And I thought, somehow, I have grown complacent.
You see, there is nobody who loves a protest, political discussion, campaign or fight over an issue more than me. If somehow I find out you aren’t registered to vote or don’t vote, well, to borrow a phrase from Kim Jong-un, I consider you a dotard. But over the past several years, I’ve kept my mouth shut. Sure, I still wrote checks to my favorite candidates, still talked to the people I knew held the same views as me, but I avoided discussions with friends who had different views. And quite honestly, I cannot remember the last time I held a sign at a protest or stood at a polling place handing out literature for my favorite candidate or issue. Things just got too toxic.
But here we were, another mass shooting, and I was having the same thoughts I always do: I needed to do something, anything! I love the U.S. Bill of Rights, especially the part about freedom of speech. Personally, I don’t like guns, but I don’t care if you own one. I also don’t care if you hunt and have a variety of rifles. That’s your business, not mine. But I do care if you accumulate a large number of assault rifles. Doesn’t seem anyone has a need for them in a civilized society. This is my opinion and mine alone. The problem is, I, an intelligent person who has never backed away from a discussion, am afraid to make my views known for fear of what others will think or call me on Facebook. Where did the fearless girl my parents taught to speak up go? Clearly, Irish beer had a special effect that made me introspective.
d a special effect that made me introspective. So, starting today, I am going to keep singing my favorite Tom Petty song because, as he says, I know what’s right. It’s not to persuade you to my point of view, but to be brave enough to at least share it with you. Please do the same. The only way things are going to change is for reasonable people to start talking without the screaming we see on TV, or the bias we hear from single-issue organizations. And if along the way, I get a chance to march in a peaceful protest, the exercise will do me good.
Contact Patty at phannum@townandstyle.com.
