Now that Shaniya Davis’ body has been found, the chorus of “what is this world coming to?” has begun.  Before you sing your part, I’ve got a quick story from my last trip to Atlanta.
I was in the barber shop, watching another rousing edition of the evening news.  I say that because Atlanta has, without question, the most depressing evening news I’ve ever seen.  It’s the big reason I’ve watched very little local news since my freshman year of college (leading to more than a few awkward conversations with local news personalities who don’t understand how I could possibly not know who the hell they are).  I do remember that great story the day the dudes tried to set it off at Chuck E. Cheese in ’97, and thinking how mad they would have been had they got home to find they jacked up a dozen sacks of tokens.  Other than that?  Not worth it.
Home invasion here.  Murder there.  You name it — if it would mess up your mood, it was on in the first 15 minutes.
Now, this was the day of the shootings at Fort Hood…and the Atlanta news still beat that in terms of depression.
So I sat in the chair, and I said to the barber, “it seems like every time I come back here, things get wilder and wilder.”
I’ll never forget his response.
“No it’s not.  Only thing wilder is the news.”
He’s right, in large measure.  The crime rate isn’t that much different than it was before.  I have to admit that part of the reason Atlanta seems wilder to me now is that poor people that used to jack each other have started breaking into houses in my parents’ neighborhood.  That’s got a way of making things seem a lot worse.
There are some horrible things going on right now.  Know why?  Because they’re a continuation of the horrible things that have happened forever and ever and ever.  The saddest thing about what happened to Shaniya Davis is that this isn’t new.  This isn’t something to make us take inventory of modernity.  Remember — yesterday’s victims are tomorrow’s predators.  This is a cycle, not a shift.
Don’t be a fool for the 5 o’clock news.  Only thing good about the good old days is that they’re old.  This was another terrible thing to happen in a world that’s got a terrible side to it. We just know a lot more about that side than we used to.