Next

 It used to be the Post Office. There was an expression: Going Postal. That's when a disgruntled employee of the US Postal Service would snap and shoot up his workplace. The suggestion was made at the time that the unrelenting stress of being a mail carrier or sorter was impossible for some to deal with. Eventually they would all crumble under the pressure. 

Then there was the meme of public school shootings. Most of these were easily connected to incidents of bullying, violent video games and rock music. 

Churches had a tough go of it too. They were attracting all kinds of non and disbelievers who sought to settle the issue by seeing if there was a heaven down the barrel of a gun. 

Shopping malls were a target-rich environment. While shoppers were scouring the place for values, idjits with guns were hunting, taking out their rage on those folks in aisle thirteen who just grabbed the last Ninja blender. 

Somewhere in there, Wal-Mart became a prime spot for mass murder. Over the past eight years, the retail giant has been the site of at least five mass shootings. The most recent occurred last Tuesday, when a night manager for a store in Virginia opened fire, killing six. That man shot himself. According to an employee of the Chesapeake store who escaped, their staff had only recently watched a training video describing what to do in the event of an active shooter. Six of his co-workers were not as lucky. 

Which brings to my addled mind the old joke about the guy who comes home and finds his wife in bed with another man. Furious, he pulls a gun out and presses it against his own temple. The couple in bed start giggling, at which the enraged husband shouts, "What are you two laughing about? You're next!"

Which is a very dark response to yet another mass shooting here in the land of the Second Amendment. The United States, Mexico and Guatemala are the only countries on the planet with the right to bear arms constitutionally guaranteed. Now for the really bad news: There are Wal-Marts in Mexico and Guatemala. 

What are you laughing at? You're next.