I know I wasn’t going to say anything.  There isn’t really much to say for most people.  Most people are disgusted and rightly so.

Monday was horrendous, at least by what the media showed.  It showed the mayhem and the looting and the rioting.  It didn’t show anything positive.  It made people afraid.  It made people want to leave Baltimore or not leave their house.  It made parents keep their kids home from school in fear.

Baltimore City Schools made the decision Monday night to close all public schools on Tuesday.  Many private schools in the inner city followed suit. My school also closed out of respect for the events.  Because even though we’re technically in the city, we’re on the edge of it and, luckily, our property was untouched.  But we wanted our girls to have the chance to be home with their families and process what was happening.

I was fine with that decision.  I understood it.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  It was sunny, only a few clouds and warm.  I wasn’t going to allow these idiots to keep me in my home as some people were doing.  I have a life and things to do.  So I went out.  I made a comment about continuing to live my life in a Facebook group I’m in and I was quickly called heartless and crazy by some.  Why would I want to go out when all of this is going on?  And I don’t “technically live in Baltimore anymore”, so I don’t get why this is a big deal. (I live in a suburb of Baltimore now).

No, I get that it’s a big deal.  But to live in fear is letting these idiots win.  I’m not going to stop my life because some people don’t understand how to do a peaceful protest.

And that’s the worst part.  A lot of this has been peaceful.  Is the media showing the thousands of people that quietly protested downtown on Saturday?  Are they showing the prayer vigils in the middle of North Avenue?  Are they showing the huge groups of people singing Lean on Me in the streets as a show of solidarity?  Are they showing the strangers coming to help clean up the mess that is left behind? Some are, but most are showing the violence.

There is a lot of good happening in this city.  It’s a shame that it isn’t being shown.  A lot of people are coming together, some that you would never expect.  We’ve had two well-known rival gangs (yeah, we have those here) call a truce and show solidarity in hopes of cleaning up their city.

Thankfully, last night was pretty quiet, so hopefully people have calmed the crazy.  There are rumors of things sparking again over the weekend, but with the National Guard in full view, they’d really have to be stupid for that.

We’re back in school today and there is a lot of clean up happening.  Hopefully the calm remains so that life can return to normal.