Being older & wiser is fun, especially when realizing how many stories you have that could have (or should have) potentially ended in your death, but at the time, you were too young & dumb for the pieces to fit.
I had a moment like that this evening when I heard a firework display -- or perhaps a shooting spree. I immediately went on the defensive in case any stray bullets were in motion. Then I peaked out my bedroom window, where I saw that Scottsdale Stadium was lit up. I imagined they were having an event for which fireworks were apropos.
I got on Facebook messenger and asked a friend of mine in the area whether he had heard the same thing, and no sooner than I hit send when another round started. A few minutes later, I started hearing police sirens. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me and I called the police to see whether their lines were busy. They weren't, and I went through immediately to a representative.
I asked her whether the stadium had a firework display, and she said that there were no authorized displays tonight -- but police were tracking some activity. She asked me what I knew, which wasn't much except for the exact minute that the second round started, and then I hung up.
It reminded me of another age ago when I was at my friend's gig down in Tempe on Scottsdale Road and Curry. The venue is an apartment complex now, but long ago, I was hanging out there for his gig and chatting with some fellas either from that gig or total strangers. We were outside for reasons since forgotten, and a car drove by firing bullets into the air. People ran for cover, which the guys and I thought was weird. I mean, obviously, he was there to scare one person and send a message -- and it certainly wasn't to us.
It wasn't until Shannon's Law became a news item that I acknowledged the actual danger from which people were running. And it was not until tonight that I said to myself, "Duuuuuuuuuude, you just stood there?! What is wrong with you?!"
That was the biggest non-event of my life that I'm now realizing was potentially a big deal. Although I am aware that I may be over-romanticizing it a bit nowadays too, like retirees who remember life as "the older I get, the greater I was." I had told my friend whose gig I attended about the drive-by shooting (or drive-by firing?), but I don't think I mentioned it again. Not for fear, but merely because I did not consider it a topic of conversation.
Of course, now I'm having the same reaction as other people do when I talk about growing up with tornadoes in Oklahoma. It was no big deal to us. I mean, we knew what to do in case of an emergency and our parents certainly took it seriously, but there were also enough people who would just stand around and watch the damage. I remember watching one tornado in particular tear up the local university where we had an especially good view -- considering we were a mere half-mile away.
I feel as though that comparison is apples to oranges. I do not have any fear of tornadoes now (being as I've been living in Scottsdale, Arizona, for almost past 20 years) as I do looking back on the drive-by from yesteryear. However, the comparison was drawn because there are plenty of people who have either had different experiences with tornadoes or no first-hand experience with them (so they defer to films like "Twister" for an education) that freak out as if I were crazy to sit back and watch the tornado in the same fashion that I watched a car drive-by firing live rounds from a gun.
I cannot criticize people for getting their education from movies. After all, the main reason I wasn't scared of that guy firing in front of me was it didn't sound the same as guns I heard fired in the movies.
