today there were gunshots coming from the field near where i was working.
"what are they shooting?" asked hanna, the girl next to me. "are they killing cows?"
"no," i said, "they wouldn't be shooting the cattle.
"they're probably just target practicing, " chimed in andrea, "just for fun."
"shooting for fun?" hanna asked incredulously.
andrea and i both nodded.
"yeah. just shootin."
"that is so stupid! that is so fucking stupid. shooting for fun. fuck." burst out hanna before her sentence descended into angry muttering.
i was surprised by that reaction. especially here, in the hills, in the sticks, in rural america. this is where shooting guns is fun. where the sound of gunshots doesn't mean violence is being committed against another human being.
i didn't respond to her statement, didn't ask her if she'd ever even seen or shot a gun herself. i didn't want to go up against the anger in her voice.
can we all please make an effort to try not to hate things we know nothing about, haven't experienced or to dislike people we've never even met? please? can we collectively try to do that?
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