The recent shootings (see post below) at the Wal*Mart are shocking, of course. Not to gloss over in any way the deaths of 2 people and the grief of the loved ones they left behind, but I want to comment on two things that jumped out at me in some of the written coverage about what happened.

One thing was the implications that what happened was shocking because it happened in a high-income area. One AzCentral article actually gave home-price comparisons for the area, saying that “For example, median home prices in the adjunct area were $198,000 last year, much higher than the overall Valley median price of $175,000.” It’s almost like they could understand the shootings if they had been in an area where the housing sales figures were more in line with Valley median prices. Or, you know, a low income area. Do people without a lot of money have to resign themselves to a higher probability of shootings? Sadly, it sounds like they might.

The other thing was a brief sentence in another AzCentral article. It talked about the events that took place right after the shootings, and said “Confused shoppers already inside were allowed to complete their purchases, while stunned employees milled near the entrances, reliving the scene and weeping over the deaths of their co-workers.” Allowed to complete their purchases? They actually kept the cash registers open? People still wanted to buy stuff? Did they not know about the shootings, or what? Despite the probably crying people and what I’d imagine would be pandemonium? I don’t know, but I really wonder about it. Are we growing that callous, or was it meant to be a normalizing sort of thing? Even if it was meant in a good way, I don’t think I want that sort of normalizing.

I wonder how long people who shop at that location will think about what happened there. Probably a very long time. Many years ago there was a shooting at a Smitty’s near where I live now. (Smitty’s used to be a local chain — a great combination grocery store/restaurant/general store.) Smitty’s was long since bought out, but I think about that shooting nearly every time I grocery shop. (Different grocery chain, same old building.) I pass under the arches that all the Smitty’s stores had, and remember that THIS was the place where it happened. That time it was 2 dead, including a pregnant woman, and three others wounded. Same horrific stuff, different decade. It shouldn’t be normalized.