I used to live in a happy world, one where nothing could go wrong and everything was colored in pink. (Or in my case, blue.) Things used to be so easy, and I would never have a worry. Sure, bad things happened to me now and then, but it was never anything to change my personal view of the world. And, of course, worse things were happening outside of my surrounding world such as wars and violence. However, I never thought these things would hit me. Call me naïve, and maybe I was, but 2011 has come bearing a very unpleasant gift – a wakeup call.
In what little has gone by of the year, 24 days as of today, so many things have happened that have brought that happy world of mine crumbling down. I always knew that there was violence and criminality, but I chose to ignore it thinking it would never happen to anyone I cared about, including myself.
So far… there are a total of 79 murders in Puerto Rico alone, in what little has gone by of the year. January isn’t even over, and we’ve already got a high toll of deaths on our hand, and I’m only counting those lives that were taken by other people, needless to say the amount rises even more if we count those who have died of diseases, old age, etc.
The first death of the year was tragic, to say the least. “Don’t shoot a gun into the sky on New Year’s Eve to celebrate because one of the stray bullets can end up killing someone.” They say this every year and repeat it so much that you get tired of hearing it… and yet, people do it. The first death this year in PR was “won” by a helpless 14 year old child. How it happened is what makes you feel like crap, though. The kid was celebrating the new year with his father. When they were walking outside around 12:14am, the kid just dropped to the floor. Upon closer inspection from his dad, it was discovered that a stray bullet had penetrated his skull. Sad way to start the year right? Well it only gets worse…
One of my best friends was robbed the other night. Two guys blocked his path down a street with their own car, came out of the car, pointed a gun at him, and made him move over to the passenger’s seat. Needless to say, they stole all of the valuables that he had with him. They even asked him to take them to his house so they could rob there too, luckily, that didn’t happen though.
Just the other night two houses from my neighborhood were broken into and robbed as well. In broad daylight too… Up in a more rural area, where half of my family lives, they reported to us that there have been people breaking into houses and stealing too.
I simply couldn’t believe, or rather said, can’t believe, that so many things have happened in so little time. Why is there so much crime in the world? Why are there so many murders? Robberies? What do people do to deserve these things? I STILL can’t believe how there can be people inconsiderate enough to threaten someone, take all their belongings, and kill the person. I’ve been asking myself these questions a lot lately, and I can’t find a logical answer to them. There is no reason to take another human being’s life… NO ONE has that privilege except for God… and we are not God to determine who dies and who doesn’t.
I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news… but something has to be done and there has to be a stop to this. It’s getting out of control and it seems as if no one was doing anything to stop it. I know a lot of people think the same way I do… but no one does anything. People say there is nothing we can do, and perhaps they are right, but I’m not going to stay quiet. Can no one see what a peaceful world would be like? No murders? No robberies? Everything would be a lot better…
I wish I could go back to the world I used to live in, that happy, innocent, safe world. But I can’t… as much as I’d like to… I just can’t seem to see the world the same way I did before. The world is slowly crumbling, and we’ve only got ourselves to blame.
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