POW!

George Steinbrenner is known for firing people on a whim. Donald Trump cans competent people for reality television, for the sake of ratings.

But this story puts both of these trigger-happy (trust me, there is no pun intended here...at least not yet) supervisors to shame.

The background information is well known by now: On Monday, April 16, Virginia Tech senior Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 of his fellow students before taking his own life. Understandably, this disturbing assault shocked the entire United States, perhaps even the world, but especially Virginia Tech and other educational establishments--including Emmanuel College, a private institution located in Boston, Massachussetts,

Two days later, after being prompted to initiate discussion with his students, Nicholas Winset, an adjunct professor at Emmanuel College, led his class through a five-minute demonstration that included (according to the AP) "a discussion of gun control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public's celebration of victimhood."

He also used a marker as a visual aid and pointed it at students (nothing indicates that he did this joyfully or with any intended disrespect for the VT victims or family members of those slain). Oh, one more thing, when he pointed the marker, he said (if you are reading this out loud and if there are children present, please cover their ears now), "pow."

Two days later, Winset received a letter from Emmanuel College that said he had been fired, and that he was no longer welcome on campus.

(I want to pause to clear a couple things up. Here are the facts:

1. "POW!" is often likened to the sound of a gun being fired. It's onomatopoeia. (Bang! and Boom! also serve the same purpose, with the variations obviously specifying different models of weapons. I haven't seen the results of any ballistic tests, but based on the backlash, I think police must have been able to link "pow" exclusively to the weapons used by the Virginia Tech shooter.)
2. Winset didn't actually have a gun.
3. He had a marker. And somewhere, somehow, someone has probably been killed by markers. Or at least had an eye put out.
4. There were no reports of any deaths or eye injuries resulting from Winset's marker-wielding rampage.
5. Winset didn't have a license to carry a marker.
6. Though fired, Winset is surprisingly still at large. And I haven't heard, but I don't think anyone has confiscated his markers.

Now, I feel like we can move on with this blog... don't you?)

According to the Associated Press, "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language."

You know, it's funny. I've heard this story in the news, and I've heard the "pow" part repeated several times. I have no idea what the FCC is up to, because they're certainly not doing their job if they've stopped censoring "discriminatory and obscene language" like "pow."

Since this firing, my co-worker and friend, Steve, and I have been saying "POW!" to one another. When our boss overhears us, she says, "You're fired!" It just occurred to me that all of our jobs are in danger. Because all it will take is for one person to overhear and decide we're being too insensitive about the situation involving Winset being too insensitive.

Who knows, maybe I'll have a letter waiting in my mailbox on Friday.

But back to Winset's demonstration. According to the Associated Press, one of the students present, 19-year-old Junny Lee said that "most students didn't appear to find Winset's demonstration offensive."

But someone must have found it offensive, someone must have complained, because Winset was fired.

I don't know what kind of man Winset is; I don't know if he's kind-hearted or a destructive bastard. Honestly, I don't care. Because to me, this story is indicative of something much larger than the firing of an adjunct professor. I think the fallout illustrates our society's desire to control things beyond our control, and our tendency, in our misguided efforts to regain control, to make the waters muddier. I would never suggest that those condoning Winset's firing are in any way responsible for the VT shootings; I would never suggest that they might have blood on their hands. But their support is part of the reason people like Winset can be fired for something so trivial. And in this sense, their hands are dirty. Maybe stained by marker.

But you know, I'm offended, too. I'm not, however, offended by Winset's demonstration, by his effort to help his students process the VT tragedy, to aid them in understanding the issues involved. I'll tell you what I am offended by: I'm offended by someone thinking the right to bear arms gives them the license to kill 32 innocent college students. I'm very offended by that.

And, I think it's safe to assume, for once, my feelings align pretty nicely with those of the American people. And when we watch the stories on television, when we encounter such tragedy, I think our desire is to fix it. The problem is, we can't. We can't fix what already happened. (We can, however, try to prevent it from happening again. I would think one way to do this might include talking about it inside college classrooms, but that's just me...) And when we can't fix the actual problem, we settle for lesser measures. So when someone complains that a professor has led a demonstration that may have offended some, what happens? Is the professor called in? Asked to explain himself? Given the opportunity to apologize to those he may have offended? No, he is fired swiftly and efficiently, given less explanation than Trump's Apprentice victims.

And then, somewhere in the fallout, voices are justifying Winset's firing by saying "Well, he taught Financial Accounting. His classroom is not the place for such a demonstration." Apparently, the topic should be restricted to Current Events 101.

And it's funny how those voices can be right, and so wrong. That demonstration had nothing to do with Financial Accounting. But, so what? When Cho went through Virginia Tech firing over a hundred shots into innocent kids (forgive me if that sounds crass, as insensitive as "pow," but I tend to think points are best made by addressing things directly. I'm Winset-esque in that way), do you think anyone said, "We would have been ready for this if it had been applicable enough for discussion in any of our classes."? Of course not.

And I know I just made an illogical assumption there by suggesting that a classroom discussion could ever prepare students for something as irrational and unprovoked as what happened in Blacksburg, Virginia. Truthfully, nothing is going to really prepare students for something that heinous (maybe boot camp). But, in the aftermath, I think we can learn something from it. To do so, it's necessary to talk about it. People who claim Winset had no business talking about this in his classroom are short-sighted, and I think they're just trying to regain composure, attempting to control something, longing for someone to punish.

And, unfortunately for Nicholas Winset and his family, Emmanuel College elected him to be the public scapegoat, all because he had the audacity to say, "pow."

I think it's funny (ironic might be the better word) when one considers that part of Winset's demonstration included his opinions on society's "celebration of victimhood." And two days later, Emmanuel College welcomed him to the victim party by showing him the door.

And for some reason I picture Bob Barker, smiling with his long, ridiculously slim microphone while Rod Roddy calls out, "Nicholas Winset, come on down! You're the next victim on The Price Isn't Right."
(Insert cheesy music and elderly people clapping their hands)

You know, I never thought that gameshow was fair. One contestant can bid trying to get as close to that correct price as possible. Then another contestant can bid the minimum, $1, not even trying. And if that first contestant goes a little bit over, the one who did nothing wins--even if they're farthest away from what's right.

The price certainly isn't right for Nicholas Winset. He tried to do what he could, and it didn't pay off. I guess he should have done the minimum. He should have bid $1 and hoped for the best.

But you know, that attitude sounds like the kind of thing that gets people fired in the New York Yankees organization, or on The Apprentice.

Which means Nicholas Winset's job would have been more secure under Steinbrenner or Trump. But I'm sure that's no consolation for him. Just like his firing is no consolation for those who suffered the most serious kind of loss, the family members and friends who lost loved ones in Blacksburg.


--Thanks for Reading

[ Please know that my obvious disdain is directed solely towards the Winset firing, and I feel nothing but sorrow and sympathy for those of you who were personally impacted by the Virginia Tech shooting. May God be with you and comfort you in this bleak time. ]