Violence is wrong!!!

> Violence IS Wrong VIOLENCE

Violence is never the answer. It doesn't solve problems, it just creates them. It makes things worse, never better. It doesn't matter whether the victim is child, adult, or elderly, or whether it is a mental or physical, violence is wrong.

Violence doesn't just change the victim's life, it affects many other people's lives too. The victim is directly hurt, but others are also indirectly hurt by the actions. If a child gets hurt, doesn't also the parent hurt for the child? If a wife gets raped, doesn't also the husband go through pain? If a grandparent is neglected, doesn't also the children, grandchildren, and friends feel pain?

I firmly believe in the "count to 10" rule. I wish it was "count to 100", but I doubt people are patient enough to do that.

I've seen a friend in an abusive relationship, and how she was trapped within. She became pregnant with his child, and because of his abuse, she lost the baby. She became pregnant again, this time she was able to carry the baby full term, and had a beautiful baby girl. I've lost touch with her. She pushed me away when I was trying to help her get into a better environment. I guess some people are either unwilling, or unable to accept help.

I once dated a guy, who decided one day to dump me for my best friend. Life is never fair, so I just accepted this, and moved on. One day, I brought my best friend over to his house so they could talk. I sat in the car in the parking lot directly in front of his apartment, waiting quietly. He came out, and asked me to get out of the car so he could "kick my ass". I kept asking him why, since I couldn't remember doing anything to make him mad. He then got so mad he went into his apartment and brought out a baseball bat. My friend then did stop him, and we both got in the car and left, but it wasn't over.
In a small town, you always run the risk of running into someone you don't want to often. I would go places, and there he was. He never would threaten me to my face, but he still threatened me none the less. I went to the cemetary one day, and the next day, through my friends, I heard that he had told them to tell me if he saw me there again he was going to run me over with a lawn mower. Another time, I was in a friend's house, and he stood out on the street, and threatened to blow up the house if I didn't come out. I never knew it would be like that. While we had been dating, I knew he had a temper; he once slapped me across the face, but I never imagined this. I did eventually go to the police, and file an assault charge, which he got away with just paying a fine. I never did have any more problems with him, but I consider myself lucky. Too many people end up in the hospital, or dead, before the violence is stopped.

My best friend from high school lived with her two younger brothers and her mother. Being a single parent is never easy, but "mom" did the best she could, which was pretty damn good in my opinion. The kids were always well taken care of, and were allowed to do all kinds of fun things. They had chores to do, like most teenagers, but were never overworked, or underappreciated. "Mom" loved her kids deeply.
My friend got married, and moved away. She became pregnant with her first child, and everyone was so excited. Her mother and I spent hours on the phone talking about the baby shower, and what fun it would be for her to have a grandchild. Because I then had a job, and my own life, I wasn't able to spend as much time with them as I wanted, though we always kept in touch. To me, they all were just extended family, like close cousins. I would even go "out on the town" with her youngest brother, then 16. In a way, he was my little brother who I needed to keep an eye on.
One night, while "mom" was sleeping, the youngest brother took a rifle and shot "mom" while she slept. Luckily there was noone else home at the time. Yet in that instant, the world changed. I couldn't imagine how a kid I knew, who I'd spent many, many hours with, and felt so close to, could do such a horrible thing. I couldn't imagine how ANYONE could hurt another, especially someone so dear as a mother. I hated the world more in that moment than I had ever in my whole life. I knew life wasn't fair, but how could such a loving and generous person be taken so soon. There were so many things she never got to experience: the baby shower, the birth of her first, and later, second grandchild, her sons graduation from high school. She had worked so hard in her life, putting herself through night school to get a better job to support her kids, being a single parent of three children, and being a wonderful person inside and out. I still to this day cannot think about this without bringing tears to my eyes. I still remember seeing her just 2 days before the accident. I passed her on the street, and she smiled, and waved. That's how I will always remember her; happy and loving life. Yet, in one moment, everything changed. It all happened, because of one person's actions.
More people were affected than the young man who was sent to prison, and the young mother that was so abruptly taken in the prime of her life. Family members, friends, aquantainces, and even strangers who just heard of the violent act were affected by it. Violence is a chain reaction. Not only does the violence go on, so does the pain.

I once met a man over the CB radio. We dated for a while, and then decided to move in together. I never once had a clue of what kind of temper he had until we were living together. On my birthday during our first year together, I got a shock. A friend of mine had called me crying because her friends had ditched her downtown with no money for busfare and no ride home. She had been in trouble recently, and was worried that her mother would ground her again if she was not home by curfew. I told her I would be right there, and then told my boyfriend that I would be back as soon as I dropped her off. The whole trip took only about 45 minutes, but by the time I got back, my boyfriend had smashed in the LED display on his expensive CB because he couldn't get a hold of me. He screamed and yelled at me because I didn't think to invite him with. Once we got back in the apartment, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and pulled it to his stomach as if to stab himself. I still to this day do not know if he truly meant to harm himself or not. I grabbed the knife and threw it away. This was the beginning of the games. He knew that if he layed a hand on me, I would leave him, so instead he would hurt himself. He would bite himself, hit his head against the wall, break things, anything that would give him attention. It was almost like living with a child. One time I came home to find the living room totally torn to pieces. My first thought was that we had been robbed, but the TV and VCR were still there. Later I found out that he was unable to hook up the VCR properly and got so mad he threw everything in the garbage, including my personal knick-knacks and items off the wall. We tried counseling and drug therapy, but he never stayed with anything long enough to give it a try. I finally woke up and realized that even tho he wasn't hitting me, he was still mentally abusing me with his constant mind games. I left him, and am still working on getting back that piece of mind. Violence can come in many different forms, and they are all destructive.

For a while, I worked in a convenience store in a large city. I absolutely loved my job there. I was able to meet many interesting people and, for the most part, they were wonderful. As always, there are people who insist on taking the wrong path in life.
One afternoon, a young man came in to my store to buy a pack of cigarettes. He laid down a 5 dollar bill on the and I set down the cigarettes on the counter. Upon opening the cash register drawer to give him change, he reached over the counter and grabbed the 10 dollar bills out of my drawer. I was shocked and speechless as he ran out the door. After counting down my drawer and filling out paperwork, it seems this 'thief' managed to make out with a whopping $25. He left the $5 he brought in, the cigarettes on the counter, and only managed to take 3 $10 bills. Here's your sign!
Another night, near closing time, as I was mopping the floors, I happened to look out the front windows to notice a young man staring in at me. I was puzzled as to why he was intently staring at me through the window until I moved a bit to the side and saw what was in his hand. While he finished his little exhibition session (taking only moments after I first noticed him), I looked straight at him, gave him a disgusted look, and turned away. He promptly walked away. I was not impressed, with his actions nor his equipment. Another bright bulb in the bunch.
The icing on the cake happened late one September night. It was just before closing, and once again, I was doing the floors. A man walked in while I was sleeping the last aisle in the back. Hearing him approach, I turned around. Black clothing and a black mask, topped with a black revolver in his hand. Another wonderful night! I calmly walked to the counter to open the cash register while the robber was waving his gun and demanding cash. It's pretty much just like you see in the movies, only I was lucky enough not to get my head blown off. Even though I was calm on the outside, I was shaking on the inside. Eventually the robber was content that he got all of the money from the store, including the $5 out of my pants pocket, and left. Once again, after counting and filing paperwork it was found that the robber made off with approximately $150. If caught, he would automatically get 10 years in prison for that armed robbery. $150 = 10 years. I'm no mathematician, but I don't think that's a good deal at all. Anyway, Here's your sign!!!
I've tried to not let myself become jaded over these incidences, but it's hard not to become acutely aware of how prominent violence has become in our lives. So sad...

If you should ever feel the need
to cause another pain
Please stop that moment, take a breath
and think of what you'd gain

Chances are it wouldn't be much
most likely not a thing
But if you should raise up your hand
to others, pain you'd bring

For every action you may do
there is a consequence
Right or wrong, good or bad
you can't just sit the fence

The consequences are your own
they'll follow you all your years
Looking back, you can see the errs
but never stop the tears

Please don't think a little pain
is totally justified
Reactions and the lives you hurt
I doubt you can abide

For violence is forever
and ALWAYS, ALWAYS wrong
So walk away, count to 10
and learn to get along!

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