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I just read a quote from some of the coroners in Virginia saying that the hardest part for them when they were bringing in bodies from the VT shooting was the constant barrage of ringing coming from the victims' cell phones. People trying to contact them to see if they're alright. I just find that chilling. Hearing some corny jingle, or a rap song like "Chain Hang Low," knowing that the person on the other line has just lost someone, and they don't know yet. And as the phone kicks into voicemail, you can't even begin to imagine how terrified those people must be.

I also read about a girl who was one of only four people in her class of 25 that wasn't shot. Can you imagine? I mean, seriously. Take a second and think about that. Put yourself in that situation. Think about one of your actual classes. For me, I chose Speech: Communicating the Message, because there were about 30 of us. Now think about all of the people in your class. Pick four of them randomly. Don't think about who you like, who you don't like. Don't think about who's a good person or who's not so nice. Don't think about who is late or absent a lot. The shooter sure didn't. Just pick four people. And there you have it. The quiet guy that falls asleep in the back all the time, the girl who never turns her cell phone off, the guy who failed every test because he always came stoned, and that bitch who yells at you for kicking her chair. Of the entire class, they're the only ones who got out. You're probably dead. Odds are certainly not in your favor. Why? Would it be to cliche to say "God only knows?"

Now comes the inevitable persecution of the shooter. You'll hear tons of people saying he was a sick fuck and deserves to burn in hell and that sort of thing, but in a lot of ways, I feel sorry for him. Obviously, it's a heinous act and a terrible tragedy, that goes without saying. But I don't hate this guy. I pity him. I pity that he never received the help or treatments that someone with so many mental issues needed. I pity him because as a society, we failed him miserably. I don't believe that people are born bad, or that they make decisions like this because they are evil. I believe that the world not only ignored his needs, but in many ways nurtured his violent tendencies. And because of that, innocent people suffered. Don't hate him. Don't hate anything at all. Hate is what caused this tragedy in the first place. When something doesn't make sense to you, don't go to that dark place in your heart. Try to understand it. Try to make sense of it. If I were a less clever writer, and I wanted to end this paragraph with a cliche as well, I'd probably say that "hate breeds hate."

How do you come back from an experience like this? My heart truly goes out to all of the students at Virginia Tech. How do you go back to class? How do you go about your life? How do you ever feel safe again? How does anybody ever feel safe again? Why does anybody ever feel safe to begin with? If nothing else, doesn't this tragedy demonstrate that an "unspeakable act of horror" can take place anywhere, anytime? These were normal college kids. These kids were me and you. They had families. They had dance parties. They had adventures. They went to Starbucks. They played video games. They blogged. The had facebook accounts. They missed their high school friends.

Sure, it didn't happen to you. And you probably don't even know anyone that goes to Virginia Tech (I don't). And in a few weeks, you get to go back on with your life and put this unpleasantness behind you. I'm not trying to sound ominous by saying "It could be you!" I think your local action news does a plenty good job instilling that state of mind already. All I'm getting at here is...none of us are really that different. We're all in this crazy, mixed-up, tragic, awful, beautiful world together. And on Monday morning, our team lost 33. Try and remember that.

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Buffy: Does it ever get easy?
Giles: You mean life?
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy: Lie to me.
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Buffy: Liar.