The Eagle Has Landed

According to the text I received, Gina is safely tucked into her new home on the coast, wedged between boxes stacked taller than her tiny 5'-something" and a large gammil that is her money maker.   

Heather here, guest blogger for the day as the G woman takes a much needed rest from her whirlwind weekend move and the tangled mess of cords that will someday bring her the internet.

Guest blogger.  Yea right.  Like I can even closely come up with anything as witty, real, honest, and philosophical as G, but she told me to try, so try I must.

I know - I am gonna ramble on about a recent event that took place here in Stockton.  Stockton, the city Forbes sites as one of the most miserable cities in the nation.  I shake my fist at Forbes seeing as how I live here and don't feel too terribly miserable.  Until I watched a recently released video on the front page of our city's newspaper.

A video that shows a man being shot point blank in the face at close range.

Oh, I should warn you - this is not a happy post.  It's a real post. 

See, the video is of a shooting that take place at a local Walgreens here in Stockton.  A brand new, pretty lookin' Walgreens.  Before 10:00 at night.  The victim a 28 year old man.  The suspect - a man.  A man in what looks like a brand new silver HHR.  A nice car, with his woman friend/girlfriend/wife in the drivers seat.

The video shows the 28 year old walking behind the HHR, a little too close and a little too inquisitive as to what is in the car to my liking, but ultimately doing nothing illegal.  The guy in the HHR gets out and "appears" to say something to the 28 year old.  My guess is something like, "Hey, not so close to the car" or soemthing to that effect.

That's when all hell breaks loose.

The 28 year old (looking intoxicated or high by his demeanor and slow movement) confronts the man.  Gets in his face a little a lot.  The suspect pushes him back and then the boy swings and within seconds the 28 year was then shot in the face, left dead in the parking lot while the man and woman drive away. 

Still unidentified. 

Still in Stockton.

Still looking like a normal couple driving a nice HHR.

Why am I so upset by this when murder seems to take place pretty much every other day here in Stockton? 

Becasue the video made it all to real to me (again) that we live in a violent city and that people are not who they might seem to be.

Because people are walking around with guns in their sweater pockets like they are packs of gum.

Because people aren't safe even at your local brand new clean Walgreens.  A Walgreens that I very well might have gone to at the exact same time. 

Did I mention that people are carrying guns in their sweater pockets?

Not gang members, but people that might be running to Walgreens to pick up medicine for their 10-year old daughter that has a cough. 

Regular people are concealing weapons, carrying them to do their regular errands, carrying them right next to me and my five year old and five month old.

This worries me.

What if that guy was NOT carrying a gun?  I bet he wouldn't have confronted that 28 year old.  I bet he would have tried to avoid the situation or just left.  But because there was a gun in his pocket he felt a false sense of courage (or was it stupidity) and let the gun do his thinking. 

What am I saying?  To be honest, I am not exactly sure. I am still riddled by it all. 

The suspect (and woman accompanying him) drove off. Backed up, pulled away, and left the man dead in a parking spot.  Just 60 seconds before that everything was "normal".  Now one is dead, a family is in pain, a couple is in hiding, a life was wasted.  

Stockton does have some pretty miserable qualities.  That's for sure.  Yes, this can happen ANYWHERE.  But it happened HERE.  Where I live. 

So, with all that said.  I guess I can honestly say that I will miss my Gina tremendously.  I have had copious amounts of fun in the last several months all because my Gina was here.  I will miss the stitchin', the bitchin', the coffee sippin', the laughter, the polygrip, the music, the therapy, the damn dog, the adventures... but... I am glad you are where you are.  I am glad you are safe.  I am glad you are home on the coast away from any silver HHR's that are driven by a woman with long dark hair and a man in a baseball cap and sweater - with a gun in his pocket.

I am glad you have landed. 

Please hurry and unpack yourself though, because I need a break from this place - and - I miss my Gina.

PS - next time any of ya'll go to Walgreens - leave your damn gun at home, in a locked gun safe.  No shooting one another, ok?

PSS - Gina will be back soon.  And I am sure after she reads this she will find a DIFFERENT guest blogger, probably someone a little less intense and a lot more cheerful.

PSSS - If you want to see the (sickening) video it is here.

PSSSS - I am not normally depressing - check out my blog for proof.

Signed
Sarah's Mom.