(((Resonance)))

There are not supposed to be any stupid questions. The stupidest smart question I have ever heard asked was to a writer. The question was, "How do you do it?"
To which the writer answered, "Huh?" And then there was silence. One could imagine the writer composing a cogent response mentally, and when the mental gears got fouled, he was thrust into a caustic zen silence that ate through the very fabric of reality.
-Book of Life, iceowl

The phone rang; the pain in my shoulder vanished and reappeared in my heart. Number Two Son was asking—asking questions about the mass murder at Virginia Tech. So many flashbacks, we had to talk about each one.

How do you do it?

Almost five years ago a failing nursing student and Gulf War veteran named Robert Flores shot and killed three nursing instructors before turning the gun on himself.
It's considered the bloodiest day in the U of A's history. -Virginia Tech Massacre rekindles bad memories, Ed Tribble

Number One Son was on campus when that happened. One of my 4th grade students was in the classroom where the teachers were murdered. Joanna dialed 911 on her cell phone but couldn’t find the words to say so she handed it to another classmate under the desk next to her.

How do you do it?

School shooters tend to act impulsively and attack the targets of their rage: students and faculty. But Harris and Klebold planned for a year and dreamed much bigger. The school served as means to a grander end, to terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life. Their slaughter was aimed at students and teachers, but it was not motivated by resentment of them in particular. Students and teachers were just convenient quarry, what Timothy McVeigh described as "collateral damage."

The killers, in fact, laughed at petty school shooters. They bragged about dwarfing the carnage of the Oklahoma City bombing and originally scheduled their bloody performance for its anniversary. Klebold boasted on video about inflicting "the most deaths in U.S. history." Columbine was intended not primarily as a shooting at all, but as a bombing on a massive scale. If they hadn't been so bad at wiring the timers, the propane bombs they set in the cafeteria would have wiped out 600 people. After those bombs went off, they planned to gun down fleeing survivors. An explosive third act would follow, when their cars, packed with still more bombs, would rip through still more crowds, presumably of survivors, rescue workers, and reporters. The climax would be captured on live television. It wasn't just "fame" they were after—Agent Fuselier bristles at that trivializing term—they were gunning for devastating infamy on the historical scale of an Attila the Hun. Their vision was to create a nightmare so devastating and apocalyptic that the entire world would shudder at their power.
-The Depressive and the Psychopath, At last we know why the Columbine killers did it., Dave Cullen

Number One Son stayed home from school for three days after Columbine. As an athlete his name had been put on a “hit list” that was circulating the campus. One kid pointed a finger at him and made the motion of pulling a trigger. I still wonder where were the parents when these kids acquired all these guns and weapons.

How do you do it?

Dear Parents,

On Tuesday, October 17, 2000, a student brought a gun to the high school campus. The Assistant Principal was told by two students that they thought a student might have a gun at school. Within 25 minutes, 2 Assistant Principals, three Tucson Police Officers and school security responded to this information. The student was removed from his class quietly, without any disruptions. The gun was recovered, the student was arrested and transported to Pima County Juvenile Court Detention Center. -Student caught with loaded .38,Lometa

When I asked my son why on earth would this wonderful boy bring a loaded gun to school? My son responded, "It was for protection because he had been threatened by someone."

Then Number Two Son asked for more money on his Cat Card so he could go eat lunch on campus with some friends.

"Is this really what you called for?" I teased.
"Yea" he grinned back into the phone.

How do you DO it?

Huh?