Fatal complacency

I know I'm being manipulated, and I hate it.

I also hate the reality behind the manipulation: that a young woman who was minding her own business was suddenly and viciously murdered by an evil loser who was sitting behind her on government transportation.

Stay aware. Don't allow yourself to get wrapped up in your phone, a book, or music on your ear buds (like a friend of mine does) when other people are around. Especially strangers.
Be alert. There are evil losers out there, and they want to harm you. Maybe due to a preexisting mental illness, or maybe they're currently developing a brand new one, and you're their first-ever target.

Again, you can often tell when someone isn't right in the head. Don't ignore the signals. Don't be so distracted that you can't see it. Be alert to movement behind you. Be armed.

And, if you can't be armed, don't be there. Notice I don't say if the rules prohibit you from being armed, but only if you actually, physically can't.

It's likely that this evil loser moved too fast for any armed bystander to have been able to save the victim. But wouldn't you rather have at least the ability to maybe make a difference, even if you failed? And, by staying alert, someone might have seen him slowly preparing to strike. It did take him a few seconds to pull out and open his knife as he got ready to attack. He was signalling his intent pretty clearly. But no one was looking or paying attention, so the wrong person died that moment.

I sure wish someone had killed him during the attack. 

Again, though, I know I'm being manipulated somehow with this horrific event. Do you feel it, too?

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Thank you for reading.
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