Wayne Chen
Northwest Asia Weekly
Honestly, I’d rather write about how laundry detergent capsules disappear from our laundry rooms.
I’ve been staring at the blank computer screen, every now and then, trying to think of something interesting. At least I write to try to lighten someone’s day, usually by retelling embarrassing things that happened, usually about me.
But the latest wave of mass shootings has left me speechless. All the normal topics I can come up with are empty. So instead of trying to fight this tendency, I just follow my heart.
I have an aunt. She is my Aunt Lucy. Since I lost my mom a few years ago, I see my Aunt Lucy as my second mom. She did all the “mom stuff” that a mom would do. She called me to see how I was doing. She introduced me to people she thought I should know. Every time we meet, she tells me I need to lose weight. Then, throughout the day, she was reminding me that I needed to lose weight.
She lives in the Laguna Hills area near Orange County. She lives in a humble home with my Uncle Tom and has many friends. She would walk long, slow walks, sometimes on crutches, and sometimes doing water aerobics in the local pool.
About 10 days ago, David Zhou Wenwei, 68, who lives and works as a security guard in Las Vegas, drove down from Las Vegas to allegedly start the shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Wood, where the church is located. Mainly Taiwanese.
During the attack, Dr John Cheng was killed while trying to subdue the attackers.
Dr. Cheng is 52 years old. Five other victims were shot, aged between 66 and 92.
By all accounts, Mr. Zhou was motivated by a deep-rooted, politically motivated hatred of Taiwan and its people.
I don’t even bother to mention motivation. You usually ask someone’s motivation for doing something to better understand why something happened. There is no reasonable explanation to help anyone understand this.
When I heard the news, my first reaction was, “Where’s Aunt Lucy?” She lives in Laguna Woods. She went to a Taiwanese church in the area. Sometimes she volunteers, or buys some of the fresh food they provide to seniors in the area.
My first thought was, “Please tell me she doesn’t need any groceries this week.”
We talked to Aunt Lucy. she’s fine. She usually goes to different churches in the area.
Thanks to Dr Cheng’s sacrifice, the rest of the congregation was able to subdue the attackers until the police showed up.
In the last month, along with this attack, I believe we all know what happened at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, and of course the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The reality is that we now live in an age where you have to be aware of the potential dangers of going to the grocery store, classroom, or local church.
I don’t claim to have all the answers. This is a politically charged topic. But I tend to boil it down to a simple analogy.
When we become new parents, we make sure to take anything that could be dangerous to them and the family. We lock our sharp knives in the pantry. We have added locks to the cabinets to ensure children cannot reach potentially dangerous items – dangerous items such as lighters, lighter liquid and matches.
It seems to me that a more reasonable strategy to keep everyone safe is to prevent fires from happening, rather than ignoring this and making sure everything else in the house is fireproof.
I know this column probably won’t add anything new to the conversation, or even really try to entertain. But when you write a humor column, the first priority is that people need to feel safe before they can laugh.
Thanks for taking the time to listen.
Wayne can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
