Dear Rachel,
This past week seems to have been a non-stop text alert of all the crimes in and around the VCU campus. My friends won’t stop talking about it, my Facebook feed is filled with it and I’m terrified of going out at night. The world really sucks, I just want to stay in bed and avoid the danger. Can you help me get past this?
Stranger Danger
Stranger Danger,
Though in the past I have been confused for a vigilante/awesome person, it is the place of the police to protect you from the criminals in Richmond. To the best of my knowledge, I think they’ve caught some of the perpetrators, but that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down.
Some of the worst things happen when attentiveness decreases, like someone stealing a bite of your dinner or missing a hilarious line in a television show. Be optimistically realistic. Bad things happen but they don’t have to be the end of us.
My advice to you is to get as much perspective on this matter as you can. You also need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You weren’t the one who was hurt. I don’t say that to condemn you or neglect your anxiety, but you’re burying yourself into a deep hole of fear and helplessness of which I’m afraid you’ll never rise out.
Also, get off of Facebook. People on the internet all fancy themselves to be geniuses. They will continue to post theories on crime and how to stop it and that the best idea is to “pack heat,” dress like a policeman and quote Clint Eastwood. I’ve yet to meet a person that appreciates remarks like the aforementioned; mostly it just makes you hate everyone.
Self-pity and Facebook are both equally dead-ended. It’s a hard thing to do (especially when you’re addicted, like me, to both self-pity and Facebook), but it must be done! It will be a surefire pain in your hiney to get out of bed and face the day, anxiety and all, but you can do it, I have no doubt.
Fear is paralyzing and can seriously suck, but you will never get past your anxiety by lying in bed. I’ve tried that and, believe me, it will only make you hungry and sad. Sooner or later your bed eats you and people forget about you.
If that sounds like a sad fate, I hope you will do your best to avoid it. Unfortunately I can’t compile a list of easy tips to help you out of your anxious state or to put a stop to these crimes.
When my friend Bane was destroying Gotham I couldn’t get him to stop either. I had to sit on the sidelines and watch like a ninny. Sometimes when crime happens, people get hurt and we’re stuck with what happens afterwards.
This, however, does not mean we should be content as fear-stricken bystanders. If you’re scared, do something about it. If you want to see crime fall, find a way to help the cause.
Bane told me that people can be the instrument of their own liberation. In the event of Gotham’s hostile takeover it was a terribly misguided piece of advice for me to accept, but I want to reissue it to you as a promising nugget of truth.
Yes, danger is very real and scary. I will never discount that. Fear will come but it doesn’t have to destroy. Try to rise above your fear and be the hero of your life, not the victim. Your life is yours and not a faceless criminal’s in chili pepper pajamas.
Yours,
Rachel