Forty five years ago today, four Kent State students were shot dead by Ohio State National Guardsmen. The students had been protesting the Vietnam War.
I was 35 years old at the time. The TV film of the shootings chilled me. TV showed a large number of screaming college students running across a large grass field and the guardsmen shooting at them. This was the United States. What I was viewing did not happen in the United States.
I had lived through the time of the 1960s New York and Rochester black riots. I was in the middle of the New York one the first night.
The anti-Vietnam demonstrations concerned me. Citizens against a war our country was involved in. Parents sending their children off to Canada to avoid the draft.
To a 35 year old attorney, husband and parent, none of these happenings were consistent with the United States I knew or thought I knew.
The Kent State shootings were the worst. There was no valid reason for the students to be shot at. Apparently some guardsman got nervous and others followed.
This past week we experienced the Baltimore protests. There have been others in recent months. All over the same issue. Police shooting of blacks.
What am I saying? Merely that all these events bother and bothered me. Kent State especially. And now the police/black shootings. Not the country I grew up in. Not the lessons I was taught about the United States in my formative years.
I spent several hours yesterday writing this week’s KONK Life column. A strange title. 99 44/100 % Pure. The story of Ivory soap. Interesting, as well as a bit checkered.
After finishing the column, I hustled over to Salute’s for a little Louis time. I sat outside in the shade, had a drink and enjoyed a fish sandwich. Read the Sunday papers. Sometimes looking up to view the bikini clad ladies.
Then to Publix. The cupboard almost bare. A comment re prices. Grocery prices continue to rise. Like gasoline did. A little bit at a time. You do not notice until you are at the check out counter and are paying more than normal for the usual amount of groceries.
Wind is blowing strong this morning. From the northwest. Sunny and cloudy. Maybe rain at some point.
Some local group involved with the homeless did a recent study. One of its findings was that there were 339 homeless children in Monroe County (Florida keys) as of January 27. Three hundred thirty nine is 339 too many!
Physiotherapy this morning. Have to hustle.
Enjoy your day!