Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Last night helicopters invaded our neighborhood, looking for gunmen, and we were terrified.  It turns out one of my friends had to shelter in place at the exercise studio for an hour while the police attempted to get one of the gunmen off the roof of the building.  It's an area with lots of bookstores, cafes and shops, busy at night and with lots of kids and families.  My husband and I finally saw something on TV about what was going on, but we were scared.  I have so many friends that might have been right there, the three blocks from my house.  We often eat there, or I go to a reading at the bookstore.  We know we live in an urban area, with lots of crime, but not like like this.  This felt like Iraq.  It made me instantly realize how spoiled we are, with our sheltered lives and security systems.  We are a hair's breath away from chaos.  We know it, but shove it to the back of our minds.  Guns.  The accessibility and culture.  We live in a country that somehow thinks they make us safer.  What a lie.  If gun control is a dirty word then life is a dirty word.