Don't judge people by their trenchcoats
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Opinion
We live in a messed up world. People murder, rape and deceive each other every day to the point that when headlines scream "Girl missing," or "Five murdered in California," we don't even bat an eyelash.
So why is everyone suspect when something happens close to home?
Following every threat we've had to the security of this campus, police scanners have buzzed with reports of people "looking suspicious." They have been described as black-clad, suitcase-carrying, unsmiling, sinister-looking and so on.
The truth is, a select few dark-looking individuals should not seem "suspicious" based on the way they're dressed. Timothy McVeigh didn't carry large bags, and didn't dress monochromatically. Maybe he smiled sparingly, but by all appearances, he was an average-looking fellow.
The same can be said for Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy.
Crazy people are your neighbors. They are your uncles, your grandmas, your mailmen. They live in ordinary places, do other ordinary things and seem like ordinary people.
To be afraid of a small demographic of people that dress in black, don't smile or carry big bags is stupid. If one is going to be afraid of those people, then they should also fear the girl in the front row wearing Docs and a Hollister T-shirt, or the boy in the polo shirt and khakis who always knows the answer to the teacher's lecture questions.
We are taught in grade school not to "judge a book by its cover," but apparently that concept didn't sink in. If we are to be afraid of "sinister-looking" people, then we should be just as afraid of "friendly-looking" people.
It all comes down to this: you can trust no one.
Until you know someone on a very personal level, you can't be sure they aren't going to do something shady like commit mass murder, rape you, or otherwise. Since it would be irrational to scuttle across campus in paranoia, one shouldn't be afraid, just be aware. You never know when something bad will happen, so be on alert - but don't make suspects out of innocent civilians.
So why is everyone suspect when something happens close to home?
Following every threat we've had to the security of this campus, police scanners have buzzed with reports of people "looking suspicious." They have been described as black-clad, suitcase-carrying, unsmiling, sinister-looking and so on.
The truth is, a select few dark-looking individuals should not seem "suspicious" based on the way they're dressed. Timothy McVeigh didn't carry large bags, and didn't dress monochromatically. Maybe he smiled sparingly, but by all appearances, he was an average-looking fellow.
The same can be said for Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy.
Crazy people are your neighbors. They are your uncles, your grandmas, your mailmen. They live in ordinary places, do other ordinary things and seem like ordinary people.
To be afraid of a small demographic of people that dress in black, don't smile or carry big bags is stupid. If one is going to be afraid of those people, then they should also fear the girl in the front row wearing Docs and a Hollister T-shirt, or the boy in the polo shirt and khakis who always knows the answer to the teacher's lecture questions.
We are taught in grade school not to "judge a book by its cover," but apparently that concept didn't sink in. If we are to be afraid of "sinister-looking" people, then we should be just as afraid of "friendly-looking" people.
It all comes down to this: you can trust no one.
Until you know someone on a very personal level, you can't be sure they aren't going to do something shady like commit mass murder, rape you, or otherwise. Since it would be irrational to scuttle across campus in paranoia, one shouldn't be afraid, just be aware. You never know when something bad will happen, so be on alert - but don't make suspects out of innocent civilians.
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