The Day After

I'm still working on my post on how I felt about my first Can-Con, but this one feels more important.

Yesterday was a terrible day in our nation's capital.

I'm upset that people I know were so close to the situation on parliament hill as it was unfolding, that they could've been harmed and I could've been reading about a loved one.

I'm not scared for my life as an Ottawa resident. I feel like the response was quick and the situation didn't drag on for days unlike the incident in Moncton earlier this same year.

It annoyed me to read people tweeting that they thought it took too long for police to respond to the scene, though I get that they were scared. Everyone just wanted the shooting to stop and to know what was going on. Having worked at a police station, I can say that officers aren't always 100% ready for a situation of that magnitude. Some may have been eating lunch, been on their sanctioned break, been intaking someone for another crime, been in the washroom, and/or may have had to pack some different gear than what a standard patrol officer has in their rather large kits. A situation with a gunman means coordination between multiple levels of policing, which I thought happened very quickly.

I'm glad people seem to have learned since the Moncton shooting not to say so many stupid things on social media and to obey the police when they say not to tweet/post the locations of the police. There was enough confusion.

I'm impressed that our media behaved like responsible adults rather than adding in their own wild speculations.

I'm upset that a young man lost his life guarding a monument. The guard position at the unknown soldier is needed because we can't trust people not to vandalize it. Some things are sacred and I wish for the kind of world that just accepts something as sacred to someone else and respects it, the kind of world where people don't find happiness in the misery of others.

Coming to work this morning, I felt frustrated by the lack of information. Then we began finding out much more today about the shooter, but it's still a difficult thing to make sense of. A small part of me wishes the shooter wasn't killed, so they could have interrogated him, and the rest of me feels at peace knowing he can't cause further harm.

I feel sad for the shooter's parents. He had a good upbringing according to people that knew him as a child. It's looking more and more like he had mental issues requiring therapy and medications. I feel sad that he couldn't have gotten the help needed to get well as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo may not have died yesterday on home soil.

I feel sad for those left behind, including Cpl. Cirillo's dogs. My father used to travel for training when I was in high school and our dog would refuse to eat while he was gone because he missed him so much and no one could console him. We couldn't convince him to eat until the day my dad was due home. We'd tell him that he had to eat to be strong for Daddy. But Cpl. Cirillo's dogs have lost him forever and they won't understand what happened.

I feel thankful that heroes like the RCMP and Kevin Vickers are quick to act with selflessness by putting themselves in danger to protect others.

I'm deeply touched by the people who have expressed concern about my own well-being. I feel fortunate to have people in my life that care. Thank you and I love you.

And now it’s time for living life. We all have things we are passionate about and I feel blessed to live in a country with such freedom to pursue interests and forms of self-expression, such as, this blog. I live in a beautiful city that bustles with activity and opportunity. Today is a new day and I’m happy that Canada is staying strong.

Ciao,
R~