mrmemo

Fellow Hokie here, class of '08.

I feel conflicted about this and similar AMAs. On the one hand, I bristle at the notion that my / our experience with the massacre would be of any note to anyone. "Hey look at me, I was near a thing that happened." On the other hand, I think people need to understand what goes on in those kinds of situations. There was so much confusion, so much uncertainty and panic in the hours following, that in the moment I could hardly process what was happening.

So maybe I'll just sum it up here:

Two of my friends died that morning. I was in the building next door, and was able to evacuate the area without incident. I heard the shots but didn't realize at the time what it was. That day will forever suck -- it will never be "okay".

What I remember most clearly, though, is how the community changed. Of course there were big things happening, like organizations coming in to provide services and counseling. But it's the little changes that stuck with me: people offering help to strangers with no expectation of return; drivers waving each other on in traffic jams; offering kind words, and meaning it. I can't be the only one who saw this -- did you also notice the town's transformation?

Blacksburg was always one of the best places to live, but it became much more than that. The community was faced with absolute evil, deep tragedy, loss... and from that loss came perspective, and kindness, and understanding. Y'all can ask me anything as well, but my response is probably going to be the same for most questions:

Just be good to each other, there's nothing more important than that.

I can't bring myself to really hate him anymore. I despise his actions, I hate the things he did, but he was a deeply flawed & damaged person. And he's dead now. What good will hating him do?

If I can be a better human to other humans, maybe I can in some small way mitigate the chance that something like that happens again. But I can't see how hatred could make that any easier or better.

So despite the temptation to wallow in hate, hating Cho is just counterproductive on every level. It's hard to move past it, and it takes a lot of time, but it's better on the other side. Promise.

We should get the bank to finance it!

Risk on one hand, lifesaver on the other.

The overarching question is, does this job hurt the humans who perform it?

In my humblest of opinions, no salary is worth dying over, and ATC has some of the highest burnout/self-harm rates of any profession. Makes sense to think about ways to force-multiply that staff to reduce burden, and to automate the process (within reason) to reduce turnover sensitivity.

More importantly, FOR PROFIT.

If Aero/whatever had provided local OTA rebroadcast in a different medium, and done it FOR FREE as a community service, it might be a different story.

But money.