Let’s Not Mess This Up

There is a video making its way around the internet today of two guys getting worked over and robbed downtown last night. It happened at a gas station we all have walked by hundreds of times on our way to shows at all the Red River venues. It happened blocks from where I spent the evening celebrating with friends, telling lies and being generally as happy as I could be. It happened to friends of a friend. It happened in front of a video camera.

I don’t want to lecture about the circumstances.They do not claim to be innocent of events leading up to the altercation, but did try to defray what was seemingly inevitable. I don’t want to repost the video, but this happened on my playground. It happened while people looked on in apathy. It was recorded, edited and uploaded, even featuring video of the police. Let’s not mess this up. Red River has gone through some rough stretches. I kind of like how things are now and would like to keep it the way it is, even make it better. Call it a Neighborhood Watch, whatever, but the wife and I parked a block away last night. I want to feel safe, I want to feel like the guys down the street have my back. More may come from the story from our end, but as it stands, it deserves attention, not for the spectacle of the video, but for the cautionary reminder that we all have a stake in this.