JANUARY 16, 2008

       There’s being festive for the sake of enjoying the holiday season but then there’s also not being able to drop your memories from the holiday. It’s unfortunate that some people will remember the 2007 holidays, not as a joyous occasion but as one of the most trying times they’ve ever been faced with.

       Every year there are news stories of stabbings, shootings and murders. Often it’s a New Year’s party that gets out of hand and people resort to handling their differences by lashing out with violence.

       We saw it this year when a teenager from Selkirk – a seemingly good kid, excellent student and wonderful friend – was either at the wrong place at the wrong time, or was the target of someone’s anger for some previously unknown reason. Of course we never know the actual details of the events because it’s at this point when witnesses or accomplices go into hiding and withhold information.

       I’m not saying the boy in this situation was a hooligan or drug dealer or even a bad person, but could it be that he was just simply hanging out with the wrong people?

       It’s quite common in murder cases. Often we hear the sad details about how great the deceased was but later as the story unfolds we find out about the troubles and setbacks in his or her life. We soon learn that the person was entangled in a web of crime or poor decision making and then it doesn’t seem so shocking to find out why they got killed.

       I guess it almost sounds like I’m saying that people get what they deserve and are asking for trouble, but that’s not what I’m getting at.

       It’s sad to know we live in a society where as soon as you hear a young person was at a house party, that it’s immediately a gang-related murder or over drugs or a boyfriend/girlfriend. Yes, usually it is, but why does it have to end that way?

       I’m reminded when my grandfather spent New Year’s Eve in the hospital emergency room (because of health problems) and I was amazed that shortly after midnight the place filled up with bloodied, drunken partiers after a brawl at a bar or house party. At the time I was shocked there would be so much chaos during an event that is supposed to be happy and festive.

       What’s even more troubling is that each time we put a new calendar on the wall the tally begins as we start counting the number of murders that take place during the year.