“Well, It’s Never Going to Happen To Me.”

Assalamualaikum,

[a repost from 94fs, just ’cause the post I originally wanted to post on this blog is not yet finished]

We’ve always heard or watched news about all the shootings and violence happening in places around the world. The Boston shooting, the rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, the apparently ‘random’ shooting in Penang last month, and the many other shooting cases happening worldwide. No matter how bad the situation is, how people would always tell you to ‘Stay safe’ or ‘Be careful’, we would always push the warning aside.

“Well, it’s never going to happen to me.”

How sure are you about your statement?
How sure are you that you wouldn’t be in a situation like the above?
How sure are you that things around you turn out the way you want it to be?

‘Cause let me tell you this : It may happen to you. Like it or not, it may happen to you.

Take tonight’s incident for example. There I was, walking by the Capitol after an assignment at the City Hall, heading towards the bus stop to catch a bus back to my hall when a friend called. She told me to be careful and not to walk down a certain street, considering how an armed man suddenly fired shots in the area.

It caught me by surprise, considering how I’ve always thought of Madison as a safe place, a university town basically. But apparently, things like this, even if it wasn’t as violent as the cases that happened in Washington or Boston, still happens. Students were asked to stay indoors, all outdoor activities like the Human vs Zombies mission and festivals were cancelled, and the police were out looking for the suspect. It was literally a lockdown.

Although it wasn’t a violent case, nobody was injured and no damages were done, but it was still a serious one. And it really showed me how things can just change in a split second. Life could be all happy and entertaining in one moment, and wham, everything would just disappear in the next moment.

Take this personal story as a precaution to everyone out there. Never neglect the safety rules that exist all around you, even the little ones that seem insignificant to you. “Wearing safety goggles in the laboratory”, “Wearing helmets on motorcycles”, or even “Putting on the seat belts in the car”. These regulations are there for a reason: For YOUR safety.

Do you think the Chemistry teacher is going to care if you get chemicals in your eyes ’cause you refused to wear your safety goggles? Do you think the government would care if you die ’cause you had a motorcycle accident and ‘forget’ to wear your helmet? Do you think the car manufacturer would care if your body were found 100 meters away from the car crash scene ’cause you didn’t have your seat belt on?

No. They don’t.

Stop taking things for granted just because it has never happened to you. Stop thinking that things would not go wrong in your life. Stop thinking that your life would be a bed of sweet-smelling roses and jasmines and lilies.

Please, just, please, don’t ever say ‘It’s not going to happen to me’, ’cause it’d just make things a lot worse if things do happen to you. Anything could happen, and the least that we can do is to take precautions to prevent them from happening.