My heart goes out to the victims and families.

My husband is just finishing up his student teaching (5th graders) and is getting his first taste of scared kids in the classroom. He had to take a couple of students out of the room and sit down and reassure them that they were safe. The school counselor gave him kudos for his responses to the students. I'm very proud of him.

Did you know that the business school at Virginia Tech is named after Portland's own Pamplins?

Interesting you should bring up 9/11. I took that Tuesday and Wednesday off from work and remember just staring at my TV both days. I remember Wednesday night making a conscious decision to turn the TV off and go for a walk. I don't think I turned it back on for days.

This time around I'm working in a cubicle and am rarely home long enough to turn the TV on. It's got a different feel, yet I still feel as though I've been punched in the stomach. I wonder if I were at home if I'd be watching the coverage. I'd like to think I'd choose the walk again.

Not to get too philosophical, but there is something profoundly wrong with the way our culture teaches people to handle their problems, particularly their problems with others. I routinely see, just as I go about my day, people absolutely losing it, to the point of trying to fight someone, over trivial matters like changing lanes, spots in a parking lot, etc. etc. I sometimes feel as though there are countless people in our society running around with a boiling undercurrent of rage, just ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

It's easy to get distracted by the superficial discussions about gun control, metal detectors, should the school have shut down after the first shooting, etc. etc. Those might be important in some sense, but really what really disturbs me is the seeming inability so many people have to deal with their problems with others.