Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Some Records Just Shouldn't Be Held By Anyone

People have an obsession with records. Whether it's an athlete running the world's fastest mile, or a salesman running up the highest sales totals in a company's history, folks just like to view records as a mark of achievement. This love of records even extends to the weather, as forecasters love to talk about high and low temperature records.

However, if there is one record no one wants to be remembered for, it's the one for the deadliest shooting rampage in American history. Sadly, Virginia Polytechnic Institute now holds that distinction.

Although Blacksburg is some 250 miles from Northern Virginia, several of the slain students were from this area. Even the gunman--Cho Seung Hui--was from Centreville in Fairfax county. He even went to the same high school as two of his victims, Reema Samaha and Erin Peterson. It appears unlikely that Hui would have known that, however. He graduated from Westfields High School in 2003; Reema and Erin both graduated last year.

And in what can only be called a thoroughly bizarre coincidence, a guy named Michael Kennedy also graduated from Westfields. Kennedy was the 18 year old wacko who shot two police officers in Fairfax County last May.

Maybe someone needs to test the school's water supply.

0 thoughtful ramblings: