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It’s a depressing tradition

June 4, 2012 by Dave Knadler

A bit too festive for a murder scene.

Back in March, a guy was shot to death a couple of blocks from here. A week or so later, this makeshift shrine went up at the scene. It’s still there; I walk or ride a bike past it nearly every day. It’s beginning to get on my nerves.

The cops said the shooting — several rounds from an AK-47 in broad daylight — was drug-related. Around here, that’s about like saying the heat is sun-related. Drugs just never seem to bring out the best in people.

Nevertheless, there’s this shrine. The victim had some people who cared about him. A couple of “I ♥ Dad” ornaments suggest he was a father, if not a husband. All the flags hint at some streak of patriotism. There’s a little “Happy Birthday” ornament in there too. I think that’s when the shrine went up, on the guy’s birthday. Hell of a way to spend it, haunting the corner of 4th and Walnut.

This shrine bothers me for a number of reasons. First, it’s an eyesore. It’s like somebody tipped over a clearance table at Party Town. Second, it’s a daily reminder that a certain thug who doesn’t mind spraying bullets on a residential street is still out there — a crime like this, nobody talks to police. Finally, it’s publicly honoring a life that, judging by how it ended, seems almost totally wasted.

I know: The guy had a family, and a family has to mourn. I just don’t get this practice of erecting memorials along public thoroughfares where people manage to get themselves killed. It’s like a public statement that the moment of death — no matter how banal the circumstances — merits more notice than the life.

People should probably go to church more. Acquire some ways to cope with loss that don’t involve a visit to Party Town.

More along these lines:

  • trump and billy bush on the pussy tapeeJudgment Day
    for American swine
  • little free library in springfieldBooks for nothing
  • town pump casino in belgrade, montanaA casino on every corner
  • Who’s got a lighter?Who’s got a lighter?
  • Ain’t a thing we can do

Filed Under: american life, crime

About Dave Knadler

Obscure writer. Lazy photographer. Bashful guitarist. Perhaps too fond of wine. Tireless nemesis of New York Times crosswords.

Comments

  1. John H. says

    June 4, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    The moment of death, and the place. I’ve seen this too, including one currently on the median strip of a busy road I take to get to and from work. I used to see them all the time commuting to my last job on a canyon road.

    I’ve also seen people bring balloons and teddy bears to cemetaries – celebrating the birthday of the deceased? I don’t know. People are strange.

  2. Dave Knadler says

    June 4, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    Yep. Jim Morrison was wrong about a lot of things. But not about that.

  3. Pat N says

    June 5, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    I have always thought the same thing. I am mystified by it.

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