Of course that stuff can never happen here. That's so Chicago. Young people being foolish with guns. This is a small, wonderfully close-knit state, with well-mannered kids. The biggest trouble they get into might be on a particular Sunday morning when Dad notices the dent in the car.
That other stuff can never happen here. That's so New Orleans. Lord, yes, New Orleans. We have friends down there who don't go into certain parts of the city after dark, or before dark, either. You wouldn't believe the crime down in New Orleeens, land of dreams--and oft times nightmares. A man we know was once stationed at Jackson Barracks in the summers during National Guard training. He could hear the gunfire at night.
One memory of his sticks out: Driving down one of the wide avenues--was it St. Claude, or maybe Esplanade?--in the middle of the day, windows down, crowds on the street. A loud pop sounded, sorta like when cars used to backfire, and every member of the crowd hit the ground in unison. As they had been trained to do after years of living in New Orleans.
But that stuff can never happen here. That's so L.A., and we don't mean Lower Arkansas.
Around here, the guns our kids carry are the long kind, for hunting turkey and ducks. Our kids don't hang out at night clubs; they have deer camps. Our kids go to church. They do their homework. They're in bed by 9.
Okay, okay, so maybe it can happen here--but only Over There around here. You know, in the city. But out in the suburbs? Where tomato gardens outnumber stop lights? That stuff doesn't happen there. So all our kids have to do is avoid the more dangerous parts of the big city, and they'll be fine. It can't happen around here. Not exactly here, anyway.
Until it does. And the papers are filled with one story, then two stories, then more stories and followups, and your kids want to read the newspaper because they knew the dead boy, or the jailed boys, or played ball against one of the accused, or knew the man who was injured, or know the mom of somebody involved. And all of a sudden, it can't happen here sounds as stupid as it always was.
The past week has opened a lot of eyes in central Arkansas. Or should have. Talk to your kids. Right about now, they might actually talk back. And it might do all of us some good to listen.
Editorial on 04/28/2016