Well, that can apply to all too many things when it comes to humans and The Planet Earth.

But for this one you have to just shake your head. And yell "What the bleep-bleep was he thinking?"

There was a school lockdown in BC today after police received a report of a male in a mac* who was carrying a rifle and entering a school building.

Turns out the guy was someone they're calling an "educator" (teacher at the school?) who took the weapon in to include it in a presentation to the students about Remembrance Day. Good intent, bad execution. A passerby called in a warning to police who, of course, responded en masse to a possible active shooter situation at a school (not a common occurrence here).

The news coverage actually made me cry, visualizing frightened children hiding under desks for the hour it took police to clear the situation.

An older student went into a classroom full of younger kids to try and keep them calm for the duration. Quick thinking and job well done by that young man.

The man in the mac, of course, has apologized. I doubt there will be any charges. Unless we jail people for being particularly clueless.

He meant well but wow, didn't think through his plan as comprehensively as he should have.

Maybe we must all say that at some point in life about something we did but hopefully without consequences of the more severe kind.


*mac = raincoat. That too can be innocently explained, in retrospect, as it has been raining buckets all day today.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2022 10:32PM by Nightingale.

Lord. Some people do need "keepers".

Buckets here and in Seattle too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2022 10:44PM by Susan I/S.

Your rain will be here in SLC in the morning.

And that guy is only slightly less stupid that a person making bomb jokes at airport security, which used to happen, until even the Clueless Ones figured out that their life would turn instantly to s*** if they did that.

Though there are still a sufficient number of Clueless Ones that TSA amasses an alarmingly large collection of guns that were in carryon luggage each year.

I didn't hear about that incident Nightingale. Idiots wander amongst us.

Without a doubt, LR.

https://bc-cb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=2117&languageId=1&contentId=77255

Still, it was stupid to carry it into a school without at least letting the administration and police know in advance what he was doing.

Oh. thank you so much for adding that crucial detail. I knew that but just forgot to include it. Yeah. That's likely why there won't be charges laid. Still a frightening experience because it's real until proven otherwise, right?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2022 01:31AM by Nightingale.

Absolutely.

He's an idiot. Anyone who works in schools knows better. For the record, "educator" can mean any school professional including counselors, various therapists (speech, PT, OT,) social workers, admin, paras, etc.

Thanks for that, summer. I've always thought of 'educators' as only teachers. I note today though that non-teaching school staff currently on strike in Ontario are being referred to as 'educators', including school bus drivers. Never heard that before. They used to be called allied staff or other similar terms.

Something new every day. :)

What kind of rifle? Was it in a case? My history teacher in Junior High had an original Brown Bess musket. He brought it to class one day to show us what you would have to face if you were in the revolutionary war. Looking at the big shotgun sized bore and the menacing looking bayonet definitely made you realize how intimidating the British soldiers would be.

I 1982 I flew to Dallas with a then new S&W model 59 9mm semi-automatic pistol, with a single, empty, magazine. The pistol was nestled in a shoulder holster. Obviously, no one knew or cared.

Then in Dallas I walked into an elementary school carrying the pistol and the shoulder holster, and into a classroom, where I gave a talk to one of my daughters' classes about my career as a tail gunner on a bread truck in South Central LA.

I had the teacher and a couple of very eager kids try on the shoulder rig and practice drawing the pistol. I suppose the teacher assumed that I wouldn't bring a loaded gun into a classroom, but she never asked me.

Then I flew back to LA.


Was it just that we all lacked imagination back then?

And you a Scottish lass Nightingale. While a mac is a raincoat it is the shortened name for the original waterproof coat created by a Scot named Macintosh in the early 1800s. The first was rubberized but all subsequent versions became macs. Brits tend to do that. Ballpoint pens are still referred to as biros,the first one in the UK, while vacuuming is still referred to as hoovering. Clever people those Scots.

Tell us about Wellies Uncle Kentish :)

Everyone knows they are what Paddington Bear wears, even Arthur Wellesley.

Paddington is my favourite guy, even before he visited Queen Elizabeth. The memory of her having tea with him is delightful, especially the marmalade sandwich in her handbag.

My mum always ordered chips at restaurants and never had any trouble as Canadians know she didn't mean the crunchy ones in a bag kind.

She always reminded us as kids to take off our wellies before messing up her carpets.

So it's in our DNA (literally!) to engage in a bit of Brit speak ourselves with the macs and the wellies and the chips and the afternoon tea.

Feels cozy.

And I like too hear about it :)

And yes, the sandwich in her bag was the highlight!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2022 02:15PM by Susan I/S.

Big memory from primary school days when it rained. All the pairs of Wellies (Wellington boots) lined up by the radiators, each with the owner's name in indelible pencil marked inside top. Wellington boots, so named for the adapted riding boots made for Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke if Wellington. Perfect for jumping in puddles. Thank God I was born an Englishman lol.

My wife makes them perfectly in an air fryer.

Well, I guess you've hoovered up that topic.

Kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My wife makes them perfectly in an air fryer.

Your wellies?

Why chips of course.

Of course. :)

Making me hungry.

Never learned to cook like dear ol' Ma.

Me mum always used “mackie & wellies” for raincoat and rubber boots.

She did stop using “boot” for trunk, however.

[mum was born and raised in East Yorkshire.]

Oh, and french fries folded into a buttered piece of bread was a “butty” or a “chip butty”. She never once used the word “fries”.

Oh, we loved our mum's chip butties too. My mouth is watering. She made the tastiest chips this side of the Atlantic.

Mum always said "put my parcels in the boot please". Never once heard her say 'trunk'.

My paternal relatives hail from South Yorkshire. I've never been there but would like to one day when I can force myself onto an aeroplane again.

So the situation gets reported in real time on social media as a "shots fired" incident. Makes the whole thing much worse.

The advent of social media is perhaps the eighth wonder of the world but there's a huge downside. Lightning-fast worldwide communication but way, way, way too much misinformation flies around the globe in an instant.

Like a modern day epidemic.

As noted above, the gun was decommissioned. Not capable of firing. No shots were fired.

Crucially important to ferret for facts and check sources.