What If?

Yesterday there was a bomb threat at one of the high schools in our town.  It wasn't where my youngest goes to school, but it was the rival school.  It got me thinking.  What would possess someone to call in a bomb threat, given the repercussions that will inevitably happen.  Was it a student that didn't want to take a test?  Was it someone that was just screwing around and thought it would be funny?  Was it someone that was just mad at their girlfriend or boyfriend?  Was it a pissed off spouse?  Was it a neighbor that hates the traffic around the school at 7:45 am?  

What if it was real? What if the threat wasn't called in and instead just happened.  Then what?

The school has 1,500+ students.  Thankfully, it was a false alarm.  

Last year, my son's school had quite a few threats. We have told him time and time again, keep your keys, wallet and phone on you at all times.  That way if something does happen you can get in your truck, grab your friends, and get the hell out of there.

I think back to the stupid shit I did when I was growing up.  I remember egging another students car, which got me a $400 fine.  The fine was bad enough, but I had to tell my parents, and they made me call the other kids and have them cough up money too.  The only reason we got caught is we were in my 1976 baby blue Chevy Cutlass.  Everyone knew it was my car.  And us, being stupid, picked up the eggs at the IGA where I worked.

I remember drinking and driving from parties.  I remember getting pulled over by what I thought was a cop, but instead was a couple of classmates that had access to a red light one of them used for being a volunteer firefighter.

I remember waiting for someone in a neighborhood and having a cop pull up and ask if I had any beer in the car.  No officer, no beer.  I did however have a bottle of vodka under my seat....but you didn't ask for that.

I remember having my car saran wrapped.  I remember having a watermelon dumped on my head at my graduation party.

I remember an EPIC weekend away with friends.

I remember hanging out at the park at midnight and not being told to go home.

I remember cruising.

I don't remember bomb threats.  I don't remember threats of mass shootings.  I don't remember suicides, or students being raped or kids beating the shit out of other kids.  I  remember fire alarms being pulled.  I remember screws being taken out of chairs so teachers would fall on their asses.  Or desk drawers being turned upside down so everything would fall out when you open them.  I remember life being a hell of a lot simpler.

I'm thankful that in just a few short months we'll be done with high school and sending another one off to college.  I'll still worry about bomb threats and mass shootings, but it will be in the back of my head... I won't dwell on it, because there is nothing I can do about someone else's actions.

What if we lived in a world were this shit didn't happen?  If people were just happy with themselves and didn't find a need to disrupt lives by calling in threats or acting out on those threats?

I'm not talking about a world filled with puppies and rainbows and unicorns, as great as that would be.  I'm talking about a world where people just worried about their own shit and took responsibility for themselves instead of blaming the other guy.