Monday, October 30, 2017

How To Act In A Crisis

If you're James Bond, the suggestion that you might Only Live Twice or Die Another Day would come as a comfort. If you had just lived through the most deadly mass shooting in American history, those kind of words might put you on edge. If you did not personally possess a license to kill yourself, receiving death threats after being shot at could be, at the very least, unsettling. 
That is what is happening to Braden Matejka, a Canadian native who escaped the Route 91 music festival with his life after being shot in the head. He had no idea that celebrating his thirtieth birthday would end in tragedy, but he never could have imagined that his wounds would not be the only enduring trace of the horror he experienced on October 1. 
A message was left on Matejka/s Facebook page days later: “You are a lying piece of s--- and I hope someone truly shoots you in the head.” Another well-wisher wrote, “Your soul is disgusting and dark! You will Pay for the consequences.” These threats are coming from idjits who are operating under the ridiculous assumption that the massacre in Las Vegas was all some carefully orchestrated "false flag event," a fabricated moment created to stir up emotions and turn the public against right-thinking Americans. Or idjits with access to the dark and creepy corners of Al Gore's Internet. Apparently all you really need to have is an inquisitive nature and access to a keyboard in order to spin dark conspiracy theories about the most recent tragedy. 
Braden Matejika is not alone in his post-trauma torment. Parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting are continually being called up for their roles as "crisis actors," and the families of those who perished on 9/11 are still being harassed for their part of something much bigger and more insidious. What brought me hope was the reaction of Matejika's family. Braden's brother Taylor said this: “A really sad part of this is that a lot of people think they’re fighting the good fight and exposing truth.”
Spoken like a true Canadian. Keep fighting the good fight, Taylor. And get well soon Braden. 

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