A Doosey of a Night

A Doosey of a Night
It was finally Friday night and after a wonderful birthday dinner for my mom it was time to hang out with some friends. Plans had already changed about 5 times about where I was going and which group of friends I was going out with; it was eventually decided that I would pick Rob up and go have a birthday drink or two with Roy. If only I had known then. As we were about to pull into the bar where they were suppose to be, we get a call that they had relocated to downtown Naperville – ain’t no thing just a little drive. Though both Rob and I are taken back as Features on a Friday night is not really this crowd’s atmosphere. Nonetheless we go. We have a shot downstairs and then the group wants to go upstairs. The whole night had an eerie undertone that I could not possibly explain. I stand facing the majority of the crowd in Frankies and after a few minutes this random swell happens. Something had just shifted, the air felt different, people were kind of moving away from dancing but not really. I figured someone was throwing up or passing out because the bouncers weren’t acting like it was a fight. Another song played and then the lights went on, bouncers were trying to get people out of the way, and all I hear is “someone was stabbed”. I look at the people I was with and decide it is time to leave.
The next couple of days unfold more parts of the story, one guy stabbed three people that night. One of the men who was stabbed died at the hospital, another needed surgery, and the third was in serious condition but was released by mid day Saturday. Someone died. I was in the room, lots of people were, and someone died. There was still no release of a motive for the stabbing, the rumor is that it was a fight about beer or hats; hard to believe that’s a reason to stab someone over. They arrested the guy who did the stabbings, and he confessed.
My first feeling was to be angry at this man who stabbed three people. I mean how dare he. Then while at work I was stocking the shelves I thought “holy cow, this guy needs just as much love”. Now don’t jump to conclusion, every action has consequences, and he needs to be prepared to face that. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this guy needs love just as much as anyone else. And no, I am not trying to make excuses for his actions, or make assumptions about his life; we all need love. No one deserves to have their life taken from them by another person. And no one who is okay and stable in life attempts to take the life of another.

P.S. It was also a reminder about the Domino effect of a single action. You never expect that insulting someone is going to lead to you getting stabbed. You never think that trying to help a friend is going to get you killed. And I bet the guy who did the stabbing didn’t realize that he was about to impact 2 school districts and hundreds of lives. Almost no action ever effects only one person.