I was listening to the news this morning and they were reporting on a double shooting that had just happened at a pharmacy. Details about the shooting weren't available as it had just happened but the reporter detailed what he was witnessing as the EMTs removed two badly wounded victims from the pharmacy.
About ten minutes later he came back on the radio and gave an update, including comments from a pharmacy employee who was due in at nine am (the shooting must have taken place around 8:30 or so).
Reporter: Did you find what happened here surprising?
Marguerite(the employee): Not at all, I know the condition of the world today.
{the reporter said something else but I was still pretty stunned by what the employee said}
Marguerite: I'm just glad I didn't have to be until nine o'clock
{the report finished just after that with no other snippets by the employee}
Now, I was struck by a couple of things. One, that the employee expressed no particular emotion, no quivering voice or discernable shock. She was very matter of fact..."not at all, I know the condition of the world today". Her response was so distancing from the event, it was almost as if the shooting happened somewhere across the country and she had no particular link to it whatsoever. It certainly didn't seem to be the response of a woman who worked in the place of the shooting and likely knew at least one of the victims.
Also, I'd imagine that even "knowing the condition of the world today", I'd still be somewhat surprised if someone opened fire at my place of employment (even more so if you consider it's location is a rather sedate area that sees mostly petty crime and rarely sees shootings). Additionally, I'd imagine that I would be shocked and horrified if (at least) one of my coworkers were shot. So what struck me, aside from the oddly callous words from this employee was the tone of her voice which just amplified the cold-natured response.
I've seen quite a few people facing life-altering situations through a job I used to have. I've heard all sorts of responses to tragedy. But even when I've heard words inconsistent with enormous personal loss, I have always heard something else beyond those words. Shock, disbelief, sadness, fear- you get the idea. What shocked me was that the employees voice offered none of that. In fact, it seemed like the words "I know the condition of the world today" were something she'd uttered a thousand times before.
Yes, I have my suspicions as to where that well-rehearsed line came from.I feel a little bit bad for that woman because her words were so removed from her basic humanity and compassion. It sounded monstrous, even though I doubt she as a person is monstrous. Of course, it left me to ponder over groups that actually so desensitive it's members that they can unblinkingly dehumanize others. How disturbing.