I’ve been accused once or twice in the past of not being able to see the big picture and at times even deliberately ignoring it . I’ll concede to the possibility that it’s true on both counts .
Yesterday the wife and I attended a large swap meet in central Florida on a hunt for vintage tools and coincidentally tomorrow is the anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that occurred four years ago . So, whats the correlation between the two ?
Hopefully there is none.
Should you ever read anything about PTSD it’s likely you’ll learn that it’s a mental disorder that’s usually brought about by experiencing something traumatic , or violent. Combat veterans immediately spring to our minds and no one can deny them the harm that memories of that horror can bring . But they aren’t the only victims of this disorder .
At yesterday’s swap meet there was a small group of volunteers that were fund raising for an organization that helps sufferers of PTSD . It seemed quite apparent that their focus was on the PTSD suffered by Veterans and they were quite vociferous in their request for donations. Also they were holding a raffle to aid in raising the needed funds . Five bucks a ticket to win an AR 15 military style M 4 clone rifle with an American flag embossed on it’s side. One of those volunteers strutted up and down amidst the crowd dressed in a military flak jacket waving that AR 15 military style rifle in the air for us all to admire .
Some of the very same elected political leaders that defend that flak jacket wearer’s right to wave that rifle in the air in public are the same that laid claim that the Stoneham Douglas massacre was a hoax . Those “leaders”ridiculed those students who witnessed the violent death of their class mates right here in the USA and I’m ashamed they still hold positions of American leadership .
I’m thinking that those teenagers that witnessed the deaths of friends during a day at school are worthy of the same help for PTSD that our Veterans receive . But , once again I refuse to see the big picture …. and feel it inappropriate that we raffle off an AR 15 to help purchase their needed help .
