Together We Thrive - viewing

I watched President Barack Obama speak Wednesday night at the event "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America" honoring the January 8 shooting victims.

My professional and personal emotions took a quick roller coaster trip.

From the moment he entered the center, greeted by pep rally-type cheers, I found myself becoming uncomfortable.

Six people were killed, at least thirteen others were injured, and this should not have been the arena to capture a higher percentage of public approval.

Was our president sincere in his compassion for those killed, injured and the numerous unsung and sung heroes of this horrific day? Absolutely.

What I found difficult to understand is why this needed to be such a massive, orchestrated event.

Our country has seen these senseless killings time and time again.

In August 2010, a man opened fire at the Hartford Distribution Center in Manchester, Conn., killing eight people.

If you take a minute or so, you will recall the others.

I had to make myself stop thinking the negative thoughts, such as “Well, of course this one involved an elected official and somehow they are placed on a higher platform.”

And then I had to set all of my own, non-important feeling aside and just listen to the words spoken about all the people affected. When I was able to shut off the argumentative process for a few moments, I did listen to the words, and they were good words, delivered well.

As for those in attendance who felt that they needed to cheer and add hoopla, as if a monitor were prompting them, it would have been much more respectful if they had just listened.