Sue's Blog - Some assembly required.

Milwaukee mourns

Philip had to go into work in the early hours of Sunday morning.
There was an install he had to supervise.
He arrived home around midday and we went out for some lunch.
Had he not had to go to work like that on a Sunday (and he never has before) then chances are we would have been right next to the Sikh temple which was the target of a gunman on at 10.30am.
Yup....right at the time we would have been there.
We often have Sunday brekkie at a restaurant which is a stone's throw from the temple.

We heard the news on the car radio.   6 people killed, others wounded by a gunman.........in MILWAUKEE !!!
Milwaukee is a quiet town.
The people are friendly, eat too much, often drink too much, but not violent.   Not this scale of violence anyway.
The Sikh community here is small and inoffensive. 
The thought that someone should set out to kill them during their prayers is unbelievable.

The first police officer on the scene was shot several times before he managed to shoot and kill the gunman.  The officer is expected to live and is being hailed as a hero.
The poor guy.  I would imagine a Sunday morning police shift is usually a doddle.  Most people (around here) are in church or still in bed.  
The last thing that policeman would have been expecting would be getting shot.
I do hope he is ok.

The news says the gunman belonged to a neo nazi group.
I bet he didn't even know the difference between a Sikh, Hindu or Muslim.
No one has the right to hurt anyone because of their race, religion or anything else.
To some nutcases it is enough just to look different, to give them a cause.
My heart goes out to the victims, the families and the other 'different' people who must be feeling very vulnerable now.
If you are not safe in your church on a Sunday morning then you are not safe anywhere.

Tomorrow we go to State Fair.
I intend to eat lots of rubbish and enjoy it.  I also intend to buy lots of rubbish if I can.
I hope my next blog is more cheerful.

posted by Sue Banks @ 2:21 PM