I think of myself as a good person. I am kind, I am polite, I am forgiving, and I am compassionate.
But, enough is enough!
There are over 50 fan pages on Facebook in reference to Chelsea King, and about 40-50 Facebook groups in reference to Chelsea King.
WHY?
Her family and close friends, even her community, have a right to mourn her death. Why are thousands of people mourning the death of someone they didn't know? Why is it that we live in a society where to not join these fan pages and groups makes you appear desensitized to the situation. Yes, it is sad that a girl was raped and murdered. But why doesn't every girl that's raped and murdered get this much attention? Why is one girl's death something trendy to care about. The fact that someone's death is trendy to care about, disgusts me. It's just as horrible as all the people who said horrible things about Michael Jackson making a 180 when they found out he died. All those people are now mourning his death and joining FB groups pretending that his life mattered to them.
So few of the people in those groups knew Chelsea King, so why the commemoration? She wasn't a celebrity. She was a naive teenage girl who foolishly went running alone at sunset.
Yes, I called her naive, and yes I called her foolish. I base that off of the fact that a petite girl like her went running ALONE near NIGHT time!
I AM PETITE! I am 5' 2" and I weigh 110lbs. I would never go running alone that late in the afternoon in a secluded area like one by a lake. The only acceptable time to go running alone is the middle of the day, in broad daylight, in a public area like a street or neighborhood.
It's called "the Buddy system", I was taught it when I was 5, and my mother continuously reminded me that I shouldn't go anywhere alone up until this day when I live in my own place in another city with my boyfriend.
Why the apparent paranoia? Because we don't live in a safe world! We live in a world where sex offenders live in residential areas! My mom NEVER let me go anywhere without my older brother. I always wanted to go to the lake near my parent's house alone because I thought I could take care of myself, so we argued about it. But to be honest, my mom's right, I shouldn't go walk around lakes alone. I'm small!
Aside from her nativity, my other point is why is she getting SO much attention?? In America, a woman is raped every two minutes! (That statistic is based only on the number of rapes reported, but so many go unreported due to personal issues discussing the topic) Certainly, they are not all killed, but her situation is not uncommon! It's happened before to many women, and it will continue to happen because we live in a corrupt society. We live in a society where crime exists!
I don't know what world Chelsea thought we lived in, but given the fact that her nativity lead her to this scenario, it's safe to assume she thought she was a lot safer than she actually was. Yes, ideally we'd live in a world where women, and girls, (men and boys too) shouldn't fear that they'd get raped. But we don't live in that world. We live in THIS world, where corruption, crime, consumption, capitalism, and a lack of empathy exist! We live in a world where pepper spray is not only used in the kitchen, but should be in every woman's purse. We live in a world where women should take self-defense classes and look up the sex offenders in their neighborhood. Most importantly, we live in a world that is not merciful and doesn't take pity on ignorance; a world where people should be educated and aware of the dangers surrounding us.
But of course, to my disappointment, we also live in a world where everyone prefers to stay blissfully ignorant of problems until they break down your door and demand your attention. Rape and murder are serious crimes, and they can happen to anyone. So stop being apathetic, read a newspaper, read the news online, or at least watch the news on TV. Maybe if you would've done that in the beginning, you wouldn't be so shocked to find out a petite teenage girl running alone at sunset became a victim of such a horrible crime. Also, please talk to your daughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, etc. about the dangers of such scenarios.
Rest in peace Chelsea King, and to her family, I'm truly sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry our society isn't safe.
To everyone who pretends they care or joined a Chelsea King FB group or fan page to be cool, you should be ashamed of yourselves, someone's death shouldn't become something trendy to care about! But please be careful, just because you're apathetic/ignorant/self-absorbed doesn't mean you're any less of people, so always be aware of your surroundings.
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