It’s sometimes hard to take a story that is so shocking and make it more interesting. More exciting. More absurd.
I tried. I’ve been working on this post all evening. But nope. I just can’t top the lunacy of the real thing.
Here is the stupidest story of the day (in my humble opinion):
HALFWAY (Oregon) — Two masked men wearing hoodies and wielding handguns burst into the Pine Eagle Charter School in this tiny rural community on Friday. Students were at home for an in-service day, so the gunmen headed into a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire.
Shocking, no?
Terrible. But read on.
Someone figured out in a few seconds that the bullets were not drawing blood because they were blanks and the exercise was a drill, designed to test Pine Eagle’s preparation for an assault by “active shooters” who were, in reality, members of the school staff. But those few seconds left everybody plenty scared.
Now when you go to work, look around and figure out who on the staff would take a job like that.
“Hey, Joe! You know how those other teachers are actually liked by the students? Wanna make them shit their pants? That’ll stop them from laughing at you.
But think about this.
Instead of trying to limit guns, ammunition, access to lethal weapons, this community hired staff members to pretend to shoot their colleagues to see whether the teachers would react properly should the guns that haven’t been taken away from fucking lunatics should be used in a school shooting.
Ummmmmmmm.
Here’s the full story.
What is wrong with some people in this country?
Oh, and what if there was “A Good Guy” with a gun in that faculty meeting. Then it wouldn’t have been a drill.
FiftyFourandAHalf 
Unbelievable. They are fortunate no one suffered a fatal heart attack. That kind of trauma can have lasting effects, whether the danger was real or not, because the experience was real to the victims.
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Isn’t it an amazing story? And as I’ve said above, the teachers involved don’t seem to think there is anything even slightly odd about the “drill.” I just don’t get it.
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So somebody points a gun at somebody with the intention of making them think that it is real, loaded and puts them in fear of their life. Why haven’t the perpetrators been charged with assault?
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The teachers involved seem to accept this as a drill! That is just as shocking to me. Thanks for stopping by!
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If I can be thankful of one thing, it’s that i got out of the work world before all the gun nuts started dropping from the trees. And that’s a good thing, because several people had me tagged as the kind of loon to come in with guns. One actually accused me of it (in a semi-joking way), and I shut him up with a detailed description of how I’d blow the building up. After hours, of course, because I liked most of my co-workers back then. Not that I WOULD have…. probably….. 😉
(Sorry, just kidding. Having a bad headache day, and that seriously warps my sense of humour. Yes, more so than usual. 😀 )
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John, I do hope you keep clear of airports and government buildings when you say crazy things like that. Because I want to be reading your blog, not blogs about that crazy John Erickson who got arrested for threatening to blow something up. I know you’re kidding and you know you’re kidding. The FBI doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, though.
Hope you’re feeling better.
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Your last paragraph expresses the thought I always have after one of these insane mass shootings: How much worse it would have been if more of those people had been armed. You have fear, panic, and chaos — and you want more bullets flying? That can’t be the answer. As for that school drill, it’s just another delusion. How do you prepare for something that’s completely irrational and unpredictable? And what if the Bad Guy with the gun turns out to be one of the teachers who’s been through the training and already knows what everyone is going to do?
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You’re right. The “what if’s” just multiply, as do the casualties, when there are more guns involved. How come some people just can’t grasp that more guns = more injuries?
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@What is wrong with some people in this country?..>I wonder that more & more & more as I read or hear of things happening in our country. Its beyond worrisome actually. It makes me wonder, seriously, how things got this skewed/this off track/this out of control..Where the so called NORM is changing so rapidly that I wonder who is this shyt! normal to? And WHY in the name of GOD is the majority accepting this type of insanity as the norm?
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That’s the correct question “what is wrong with some people in this country” as is your other question — “Why in the name of god is the majority accepting this type of insanity as the norm?”
I think the answer to both is that peoples is stupider then they used to be.
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Yep the trickle down effect of the dumb down descent is moving faster & faster…I’d laugh(cause I love laughing) but its really tragic more than funny..I could go on & on about this topic & really break it alllll the way down; and more than likely will soon as time permits. Truly dig your insight and for making people THINK
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Thanks and welcome!
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No one could make up a story like that – it’s just unbelievable. Thankfully no one was hurt or had a heart attack. It could have turned out very badly.
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I’m still shaking my head over the stupidity involved in that one. Massive stupidity. And yes, it might have ended horribly.
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Your last point is very powerful. Wow.
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Scary when folks start playing with guns. Really scary.
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I’m okay to stick with fire drills. It’s a shame this type of drill is even something we just may have to think about in schools now.
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Fire drills are fine. It’s when folks come in and “FIRE” that I have problems!
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I don’t know what to say. I vaguely remember being told to hide under our desks for fake bomb drills during the Cold War. We haven’t evolved very much, have we. Actually, we have devolved…
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Stupidity often leaves me speechless, too, Lorna.
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What in the effing F??? I want to know the brain trust that thought this was a good idea.
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I’m not sure there was a brain involved in this decision. I think it was all asshole.
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And I imagine the school district is prepared to pay for therapy for these people when they are dealing with PTSD? Not a good idea.
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The folks who decided to do this test née therapy too — Electric shock therapy.
But when you read the article the teachers seem OK WITH IT! Oy
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There is actual research showing that people with a gun in their house, loaded and ready, still are usually not able to get the gun in time to stop an intruder and defend themselves. It’s much more likely they are to shoot their own spouse or child coming in unexpectedly. Sigh.
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I’m with Life, the only words I can come up with are “fucking insane”. I still can’t believe that really happened.
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Truth is stranger than fiction. That is certainly true where guns are involved.
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I am shocked. No words.
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Stupidity has that impact on me sometimes, too, Michelle. What a world.
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Holy shit! Sorry…just no other way to put it. That is beyond stupid. Actually, something similar happened in a town in my state a couple years back, only it was labeled a “training” for convenience store workers. I think the employees sued. Why wouldn’t they? Therapy bills for life don’t pay themselves.
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Those workers are smarter than the ones in the Oregon school system, who, at least according to this article, seemed more or less OK with the test. Perhaps they were shooting blanks from their brains while others were shooting blanks into them.
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Your last paragraph. Chilling. This was a totally stupid idea from start to finish.
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Sometimes you just have to wonder if there’s an adult in the room, don’t you?
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I was out to dinner with a group of teachers on Friday and we ran into the local sheriff and I related this story. They all looked at me dumbfounded – they thought I made it up. To think what would have happened if just one person had a concealed weapon on them, or had a heart attack, or ran at the guys with a pocket knife, or….or….
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It is so scary that there are so many people who don’t get that guns are dangerous and unpredictable. And why you would want to do a pretend surprise attack is waaaaaayyy beyond me.
But still, if you read the article, the folks who were involved didn’t seem upset.
Crazy world we’re living in.
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Does this an Idea at all!! Really shocking!!
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You said it Arindam. I think!
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Astounding. Amazing. Absurd. Retarded. Shocking. Foolish. Irresponsible. And….OMG! WTF?
Who thought this was a good idea? This is just stupid.
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Yup, TwinDaddy. All of the above. I would have the head or the ass of whoever did that to me or anybody in my family. On a silver platter.
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They just set themselves up nicely for some lawsuits.
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They deserve law suits.
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They do, but ultimately it’s the taxpayer’s money. And that sucks.
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Then perhaps the taxpayers should pay better attention to whom they elect.
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True.
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Unbelievable! Thankyou for blogging about it. Yet another reason I’m grateful Australia doesn’t (yet) have such a gun culture problem.
Honestly, as a writer, you’d never DREAM of coming up with such a stupid idea would you!?
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John Oliver of the Daily Show did a hilarious piece on the different reactions between the Aussies and the Americans to a mass shooting. It’s brilliant. http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/stewart-slams-broken-bad-senate-failure-pa
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that is absolutely hideous…..hard to believe someone would ever do that….thanks for bringing this to our attention, I would have had no idea there were idiots making decisions like this. A scare like that could harm those teachers for a lot longer mentally, than just the day of the drill….
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If you read the article, the teachers weren’t particularly upset by it. Me? I’d be livid. I’d be suing. I would be making sure that the people who organized and participated (from the shooter’s end) were prosecuted.
The folks who were actually involved didn’t seem to feel like that.
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I’m amazed Elyse. Again. Some of those teachers will probably need counselling now!
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The strange thing, Stare, is that the article quoted a couple of them and they didn’t sound like they needed it — not from this, anyway. they seemed cool with it, like it was a test they didn’t do very well on, not a test of one’s ability to withstand an armed assault. That was possibly as surprising as the idiots who decided to do such a test.
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Yes that is surprising. There would have been a full set of cardiac arrests at our little local village school in that situation!
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I can believe this …. after all, these are prime examples of both the need for educational reform and way it won’t happen.
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You think we need eduKation, Frank? Would that help?
Oy, this whole thing makes me so frustrated!
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Gun fanatics keep making the case that we should restrict guns. I don’t want guns in the hands of people who make such remarkably stupid decisions like the ones in these news stories. I want my government to protect me from them. When will this lunacy be curbed? I sure hope President Obama doesn’t give up on revamping our gun laws.
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SDS, you don’t understand. It’s the folks with all the guns who want to protect us from the guv’ment.
I hope that there will still be some movement on gun control. It would have passed if they had done it in December.
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I hope so, too. This thing isn’t over yet.
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There are no words. Oh, wait there are 2….fucking insane! I’m not past the story of the Sheriff here in Chester county raffling off assault weapons for charity. Crazy continues!
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Two perfect words, Tops!
(And I responded to this email this morning — I wonder what happened to my response. One of my faux followers stole it, no doubt.)
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Here’s yet another stupid idea. North Carolina is now considering a bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns into places that serve liquor AND onto campuses at public universities under the frequently cited yet insane theory that more guns make us all safer. What the f***??
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I am sorry to say that we here in Virginia can already do that. We are so progressive here in VA it is maddening.
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Yes, the same thing at our university – it hasn’t passed yet but it probably will. What I didn’t realize was that people were already allowed to bring certain weapons on campus anyway – concealed or not. I just – shake my head.
We had an active shooter drill. They (trained police officers) held it in one building and those who wished to participate could do so. We also watched a film. The film was useful – for instance it pointed out that guns don’t sound like BANG in the movies but sometimes like popping. People don’t recognize it and don’t take cover. Like the bit where the airline people tell you what to do in the event of a crash, sometimes knowing some strategies can help save you. Maybe. Of course this was a planned drill and people knew what was going on and could choose to participate. Having it sprung on you teaches nothing but fear.
Of course the cop who spoke to us said they automatically assume that anyone with a gun is the suspect. It’s their job. So I asked “well, what if the people on campus have guns? He looked uncomfy and said he couldn’t answer that. Right.
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I don’t know where you are, but guns are allowed just about everywhere here in Virginia — home of course of VA Tech. It doesn’t give me the slightest feeling of safety. If I had wanted to live in Dodge, I would have.
But you’re right there is a difference between an orderly, instructive drill and scaring the shit out of folks.
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I’m from Texas, where pickup trucks with gun racks are the norm. Sigh. You’d think people would figure out that the guns are a bad thing – but their response is just to have more guns in the hands of the “good guys”. Umm, yes. That should do it. They say well we won’t take away knifes. Well, no, because you can use a knife to cut your food. What else can you use a gun for besides killing? Waiting . . .
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Decoration? Especially in red.
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Guns and stupid go together like peanut butter and jam. Why oh why oh why … Nevermind. You are right once again. They prove it themselves daily. Sadly. Great piece.
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Thanks, Janni. What a stupid world.
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lol and yes
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I went through training like this when I worked at a bank, but I as working in a profession with a high risk of robbery, so this training was necessary to help us save our lives, as well as our co-workers, & at the same time try to identify the robber. No one ever suggested we should carry guns, so we would be better prepared to defend ourselves! We never considered it either! AND the mock robbery was put on by the trained professionals of the local police department.
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If you work in a bank, that is practical. Same with armored vehicles. Places where people go to steal stuff. Bad guys go in there — they do it with guns and with other weapons.
But I think our goal in schools and churches and movie theaters shouldn’t be to teach people to survive. It should be to prevent them. We’re not even close to going there.
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I read the full article, and there isn’t even the slightest bit of “ARE THEY INSANE???” tone in it. It’s like they are talking about a fire drill.
Oh yes, geniuses, keep doing those drills. You will get shot with real bullets eventually, because your whole crime prevention strategy relies on having a guy (or guys) with loaded guns, who will shoot first and ask questions later.
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That was pretty astonishing about the article, wasn’t it? That woman talking about how she wouldn’t have made it out alive. Lord!
But now that they’ve had the drill, I’m absolutely sure that they would know the real thing when they saw it. They’d just count the number of folks around the table, right?
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What a dumb idea for a drill. This is not the kind of thing you can prepare for by practicing. A bad idea in every way.
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Absolutely. Stupid gits.
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Oh my. If I were an ambulance-chasing lawyer, I’d be buzzing my way to Oregon chasing big bucks.
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I think this is a case for the good guy lawyers. If I had been put in that position (especially if I poo’d my pants in fear), well, I would sue. I’m really not a big proponent of law suits but sometime they serve as a great deterrent or improver of behavior.
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That’s funny you mention that story. I was watching Vice with my boyfriend a week or so ago and they covered a story on a Christian school (I believe it was a Baptist school) in Texas that has an ex-cop as the preacher. He has taken it upon himself to teach his students how to fight off a shooter. They showed a drill on the show in which the children were all in the sanctuary and men with fake guns ran in and the kids had to crawl under the pews. It was hard to believe that the children were so calm. I would have been scared to death at their age. But needless to say, its such a shame that that is what it kind of boils down to now in today’s society. You can’t even feel safe going to the movies or to school. It’s ridiculous.
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As a kid, we played games like that all the time. But not with the expectation or fear that it might happen.
You’re absolutely right — it’s ridiculous that we can’t be confident no matter where we go that there won’t be a pissed off man with an assault weapon.
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We need to be praying for our nation, that is for sure.
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That makes me sick. Now, those people will always and forever have the fear not in the back, but in the front of their minds, that they could be gunned down at any moment at work. Imagine if local cops randomly did something like that at local grocery stores. Puleeze!!! And with kids being as sensitive as they are (especially mine), they pick up on fear. So wrong on so many levels.
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Absolutely. And of course preventing these assaults isn’t in the cards. Duh.
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That’s just … I have no words for how stupid that is. And the news article you linked to seems to present it as a good idea. I’m glad no one got hurt.
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That’s how I felt, too. I couldn’t make it into anything more. Not possible.
And isn’t that the most absurd point of all. That the participants are sitting there saying “yeah, I would have been shot.” I’m glad no one got hurt, too, but they might have — heart attacks for example.
The folks who thought this one up should go into the stocks in the public square.
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Sure, maybe someone has a heart attack, someone else sprains an ankle trying to escape, one of the fake-shooters gets shot — but it’s all worth it, because everyone learned a valuable lesson: being shot at is scary.
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Right you are Laura.
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Oh, dear God, no!!!!!
I can’t even imagine the answer to your last question:
“what if there was “A Good Guy” with a gun in that faculty meeting?”
Why the hell is there no answer to that question, ever?
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I was thinking about you the whole time I wrote this up (and I tried to make it pithy but gave up). You should print this article out and let the folks in your school district know that this is, ummm, not a good idea. Personally, if I were one of the teachers in that staff meeting, I’d be getting a lawyer and suing the shit out of the people who thunk this hair brained scheme up.
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Hare brained or hair brain.
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no kidding … find a lawyer … this is beyond stupid
I’m not usually at a loss for words, but this “pretend assault” has me shaking my head in disbelief … I mean, really? Insanity!
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I feel like whenever guns are involved, I AM shaking my head.
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I can’t believe they’d do that. How scary for those teachers not in the know. At the very least, they should have been told drills like that may take place in the future, but even then, the scare could cause lasting harm.
Between this and the story I heard earlier today of the 5-year-old boy who accidentally shot his 2-year-old sister with his “My First Rifle” gun, I’m not sure what to think anymore. (Here’s a link to that other horrible story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/01/my-first-rifle-kid-shot/2126431/)
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I read that. What idiot gives a 5 year old a real gun?
I got flack during a previous post for saying that folks with guns are stupid. But they are really trying to prove it every fucking day, aren’t they.
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I remind myself that there are many, many responsible gun owners, but then stories like these occur (far too frequently), and I just feel sick. How many kids have to be accidentally shot before guns are tightly locked up and ammunition stored separately?
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Then, frankly there is no point to having a gun for protection. The burglar breaks in and you say “hold on a minute while I unlock my gun and then go get the ammo.” So, it truth, there is no reason to have a gun. Hunting, OK. Not my bag, but OK. Home invasion — it’s not gonna help. Get a dog.
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Good point.
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