"Can we ever feel safe again in a movie theater?"

[Anonymous]

This, or something close, was the title of a "news" article I saw online today. I didn't click it to read the whole thing and it may well have answered the question with why we shouldn't feel unsafe going into public places.

Still, I'm sure there are people who will not be going to movie theaters or similar venues for a while, or even worse, those who will but who will arm themselves just in case. I understand why these large-scale tragedies affect us emotionally, but I hate the knee-jerk reactions that come out of them like the sentiment in the article title. "Can we ever feel safe again in a car" or "can you feel safe eating whole grapes" (common choking hazard, even for adults) would be more appropriate.

[Anonymous]

I never felt 100% safe in movie theaters even before this. Anytime I'm in a large crowd in a contained space (malls, stadiums, even chuch) I make a mental note of where the nearest exit is. But in this particular case, I think the type of movie being shown has something to do with it. I would feel "safer" I guess, in a Disney movie with my kids than I would in a theater showing a violent, R rated film. Something about the clientele around me...

[Anonymous]

The neighborhood that this happened in was the Denver equivalent of SE DC. Will I ever go to a theater in Camden, Compton, or Anacostia? HELL NO. However, that has nothing to do with the shooting.

[Anonymous]

I have felt this way since 9/11. Frankly I don't understand why there haven't been more attacks like this one. Obviously I am glad! Just saying it seems like those determined to hurt us could easily commit crimes like this one. I think about it every time I'm in a coffee shop, movie theatre, public transit.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The neighborhood that this happened in was the Denver equivalent of SE DC. Will I ever go to a theater in Camden, Compton, or Anacostia? HELL NO. However, that has nothing to do with the shooting.

do you know this firsthand? Because I really doubt it.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you, but I'm sure the "swine flu pandemic crew" will be out wringing their hands over this.

[Anonymous]

the people who stop going to movies because of this are the same people who walked in zig-zags when the shooter was targeting random people in the DC area. People who let blind fear override the basic understanding of how rare stuff like this really is.

I went to a movie yesterday with my daughter. I didn't think twice about it. I also flew in planes not long after 9-11 and I drive my car everyday, even though people die in car accidents daily.

[Anonymous]

Great for everyone who says something like this will not cause them to alter their lives. But for me...the idea of sitting in a dark theater right now scares the sh*t of of me and I only go to one once a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a movie yesterday with my daughter. I didn't think twice about it. I also flew in planes not long after 9-11 and I drive my car everyday, even though people die in car accidents daily.

+1 People should realize how extremely, extremely rare these random shootings (thankfully) are. They are horrific -- but extremely, extremely rare.

To change your behavior based on an incident like this is irrational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the people who stop going to movies because of this are the same people who walked in zig-zags when the shooter was targeting random people in the DC area. People who let blind fear override the basic understanding of how rare stuff like this really is.

I went to a movie yesterday with my daughter. I didn't think twice about it. I also flew in planes not long after 9-11 and I drive my car everyday, even though people die in car accidents daily.

for the most part, I agree with this. I'm not going to stop living my life because of this. We're no less safe today than we were previously - we're just now aware of more places that nutsos see as easy targets.

However, I walked in zig-zags and quickly and generally tried to avoid being outdoors during those 3 weeks in 2002. That was pretty terrifying since the guy didn't have a pattern and could have been anywhere at anytime. The FBI lady lived in our neighborhood and was shot at the Home Depot we had just been to the day before. If this makes me sound like a crazy person, so be it - I was going to do everything I could to avoid being an easy target. I see it as no different than being aware of your surroundings in a dark parking lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm with you, but I'm sure the "swine flu pandemic crew" will be out wringing their hands over this.

Nonsense! We are very danger-specific in our concern.

The theater shooting doesn't cause us much concern at all, although we might continue to avoid crowded theaters during a pandemic of a communicable decease spread through person to person contact by air transmission in close quarters.

[Anonymous]

I was home in St. Louis this past weekend and there was a free Nelly concert that they shut down a couple blocks of a major downtown road for. With Nelly being from STL it was of course packed. Still, I didn't feel threatened or worried and that's supposedly the most dangerous city in the country. Running around scared all the time won't get us anywhere, but probably will make for more entertaining targets to these shooters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The neighborhood that this happened in was the Denver equivalent of SE DC. Will I ever go to a theater in Camden, Compton, or Anacostia? HELL NO. However, that has nothing to do with the shooting.

Why even mention the neighborhood? As you pointed out, the shooting had nothing to do with the location of the theater.

[Anonymous]

Some people really enjoy freaking out about these kinds of things. So they will indulge their fantasies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the people who stop going to movies because of this are the same people who walked in zig-zags when the shooter was targeting random people in the DC area. People who let blind fear override the basic understanding of how rare stuff like this really is.

I went to a movie yesterday with my daughter. I didn't think twice about it. I also flew in planes not long after 9-11 and I drive my car everyday, even though people die in car accidents daily.

I think avoiding the movies is irrational, but I don't think the zigzag walkers were irrational. The sniper was randomly shooting people in different locations.