Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Eldritch horrors aside, sometimes ordinary things in this world are just as frightening

Sometimes something happens to make you pause and think about how important the people around you are, how wonderful life is, and yet how dangerous the world can be. Someone I know came very close to being killed by thugs during an attempted robbery early this morning. He's mostly okay, but the thought of him hurt--or possibly killed--makes my blood run cold.

I think as a general rule most of us try to ignore the fact that there are bad people in the world who do horrible things. But when someone close to you--or you yourself--experience it first hand, then that changes everything. It isn't some theoretical scenario or some blurb on the evening news. It seems more real.

We can't hide from theoretical dangers, however, or give up living life out of fear. But we can take precautions. I often have taken the bus in that very neighbourhood late at night. That's not going to happen anymore. I'm also considering getting some pepper spray from Gall's. They have some for $35 that are small, fit on a keychain, top of the line, and refillable. I know it doesn't always work to deter those who would harm you, but it might save my life someday. That's worth a little money. Fortunately there's a store here in Lexington, so I don't even have to have it delivered by mail.

Give me fictional tentacled horrors; I can deal with them. But ordinary people who care nothing about their fellow men and exploit and hurt them due their own greed are harder to deal with. I do believe they deserve a special circle of Hell, or at least have their livers eaten away each day by an eagle.

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