Man On A Bus Backstory

I was commuting to work south of Denver, taking the No. 11 bus east on Mississippi. Not by choice, but because my 15-year-old car suffered yet another (scratch the head) “I ain’t never seen this happen before,” breakdowns. I took the light rail to the Broadway and I-25 station at about 5:12 a.m. and stood outside in the frigid cold of a dark dawn four days before Christmas. The bus arrived, all toasty and warm inside. I was the first passenger, and two elderly ladies got on. Then, a man in black clothing, a gold chain around his neck. Without sparing a glance at the old ladies, he walked straight toward me and sat across the aisle. I seem to always attract people who need to confess something. In this case, I’m grateful because I the man laid out an amazing tale, and told it with such emotion that it had to be true. He told his story about being lured into the pallet yard by a lovely young woman, and then being chased by huge hoodlums.

“God is real!” he proclaimed, before launching into his story. “Otherwise, I would never have survived last night.” He shivered from the cold, and from fear. He cried, tearing at the appropriate times during the telling of his tale. I purposely did not ask his name because that would have ruined it for me. I loved the fact that this man with mud spatters on his black trousers was sharing intimate details of his most horrifying moments on the planet. I loved the fact this terrifying chase took place just days before a sacred holiday, the Savior’s birth. He was equally rewarded. He needed to tell somebody this story, after spending the entire night huddled against the cold with a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

I asked questions, including, “Have you ever felt fear like that before?”

He choked up when he answered, saying he never felt anything like that before. He said it wasn’t just being afraid, but knowing that evil, this degree of evil, existed in his world.

I believe my retelling of the story is far more colorful than his original. I decided that the evildoers needed to have structure. I arranged the pallets into a maze. I gave the villains weapons. I made them into Lucha Libre masked villains. I gave Anthony his name, and attempted to make the audience root for the self-professed jackoff.

I like to think there is a purpose for everything that happens in life, that there is no wasted energy, that life is perfect, even if not always to our liking. I’m pretty certain that my car broke down to give me stories to tell. I’m fairly certain the man on the bus came to me for that reason. I tried my best to create the tension that will make this story interesting to all who read it.

 

MAN ON A BUS, a short story by Kerry Gleason, is available on Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATGF0Q4

Essay: On Gun Control

Gun control won’t eliminate the absurd, unfathomable killing of innocent lives in routinely peaceful settings. Self control is necessary, as well. The gun is the weapon of terror of choice for these lunatics who open fire in schools, in theaters and in shopping venues. Before that trigger was pulled, there was another disconnect that took place that cannot be resolved by gun legislation. There was a moral disconnect, a loss of respect, and perhaps hatred, of human life.

A great society will be judged by its treatment of innocents, by its shepherding of its God-given resources and by its commitment to being a world citizen.

It should not, and must not be guided by a disturbing competition to see how many life forms can be destroyed in a 90-minute piece of visual “entertainment.” It should not be guided by how many human life forms can be shot or maimed in the course of a video “game.” These forms of recreation are having a sick and deleterious effect on the personal moralities of individual, and on our society as a whole. It seems at presence, we glorify violence. Until it hits our own community. Then, we see grief-ridden faces and we have a fund-raiser.

No! This is wrong. I do not advocate censorship, just a system of determining the ability of individuals to process those violent messages and images. And age is not the determining factor, as we have seen. We need to forsake all the no child left behind nonsense, and embrace a means to identify conduct unbecoming of a citizen, and prevent those actions of community violence that are preventable. We must take the time to see into the minds of our children and our neighbors (whom most of us don’t know anymore). We must be a diligent, but caring, society that will never turn a blind eye to the hopelessness in individuals that might lead to acts against society. It’s not going to stop with mere gun control, or metal detectors at school entrances or security guards in every public place. It’s going to start when we stop running around trying to flaunt our personal wealth and superiority, and begin caring about the immaterial things that are important.

Yes, it is time to enact stronger laws that require stringent background checks, and perhaps even training, for people to own and operate firearms. The sale of ammunition must also be more closely monitored, and perhaps prohibited over the internet.

Yes, we need to look at our Constitution and amend our 2nd Amendment. Instead of “the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” it should be changed to “the right of the people to earn the right to keep and bear arms.” As I’ve declared before, the purposes of the 2nd Amendment were to build a strong militia, but also to empower the citizenry to protect itself from a military or police state. I see no problem in requiring a series of aptitude tests, both skill- and morality-oriented, before issuing a gun permit. As it stands right now, we have almost as many deterrents on buying a can of spray paint as we do for buying a gun.

Just as we take away people’s right to drive after an infraction, we need to disenfranchise people who have been jailed from their right to keep or bear arms. Those get taken away, and the privilege must be regained. Get caught bearing arms after violating that probation, and you are charged with a felony and do time.

We can do all that. It seems to me the hard part is going to be instilling a conscience in those people who, for lack of schooling, lack of parenting, mental health or mental and moral weakness feel the desire and need to take the lives of innocent people. That is going to require the eyes, ears and common moral sensibilities of our society.