I feel like every day I'm thinking, can my day get any worse? I should stop asking myself because it seems like it always does. I'm part of a volunteer program called IMP, Incentive Mentoring Program and you have a "family" which consists of several Hopkins students all focusing on one student. Participating in the program thus far has been fairly rewarding.
However, oday at Dunbar High School, all the tutors were standing in the lobby, each of us waiting to catch "our" kid for tutoring when we see the students "surge" towards the stairwell. I can't think of any other way to describe it. We've all seen Finding Nemo, so imagine a crowd of people moving like minnows or a school of fish. A few seconds later, fighting through the crowd, we see one of the coaches dragging a girl by her hair (well what was left of it). He tossed her in the office. The minnows surged towards the office, which conveniently has glass walls, perfect for viewing the drama within.
The staff told all the students to get outside. You can hear the noise level quadruple with people talking about who hit who first and who won etc. I'm standing there, the only person standing still, terrified. In the back of my head I thought I should help herd kids outside, but I was frozen and sensed it was going to get worse. As the students are trickling outside, they suddenly begin moving quicker- racing outside. I see students climb up on the railings, shouting, hollering, and rooting for something that I can't see. The two school cops (and I say cops because they are fully armed) race outside and one (who must be pushing 250 lbs) grabs the two main fighting girls by a handful of hair and holds them apart, taking them to the office, while they keep taking swings at each other. I see ones red bra exposed, I see bits of real or synthetic hair floating through the air, the other wriggles out of her hoodie. It seems he can't hold them far enough apart. The hoodie-less girl falls and the other girl is able to get a few more punches in then stomps on her face. The minnows surge inside behind the relentless fighting girls. The whole school lobby filled up again in two seconds.
Since both girls go down still trying to fight each other, the officer falls off balance and he goes down to his knees. Students from the crowd start kicking him. Seriously eight kids start beating on the officer. I couldn't believe my eyes. Every available adult (minus me who had retreated to the corner of the room) jumps in and starts tossing kids off. The choir teacher is elbow deep in high schoolers. Kids start fighting other kids. Kids start fighting adults. A riot broke out where everyone was just swinging at everyone.
The office locked the outside doors (as the office staff remained safely behind the glass), the students outside who are left out of all this fun start banging on the glass. Thank goodness it's bulletproof or it probably would have shattered. The officer gets the two girls into the office, which locks again as the minnows (which are now like piranhas) try to surge inside. I asked one girl what happened, she shrugged and said some girls were fighting over what one of them had said to the other. I am traumatized and she didn't seem phased. I was thinking wow, another day in the life.....
Long story short (or less long), they shut down the school, everyone had to leave, no tutoring. Which is fine, I never did actually see the kid I tutor anyway.
We (luckily) live in a country where there is order,the government maintains control, and for the most part people follow the law. There were a few occasions like September 11th, or the South Central Riots, a where control was lost. I never realize how much comfort I take in assuming that the CIA is keeping me safe from terrorists, and the Baltimore Police are keeping me safe from drunk drivers and getting jumped in the parking lot, and that I can go to the coffee shop without thinking I might get blown up today by a suicide bomber.
When there is a little loss of control, it seems like things get crazy really quickly. The Joker in Batman has, to me, been one of the most terrifying characters I have ever seen. Scenes like on the two boats when the people were trying to decide whether to blow up the prisoners to save themselves and vice versa. I asked myself what I would do in that situation... and the answer scared me. You never know who you'll become in a time of crisis. You aren't safe from others and you aren't safe from yourself. When perfectly normal people (like the students) get a mob mentality, they might do things they normally never would have dreamed of doing. Today I got a little taste of how others experience Baltimore all the time. The Joker says it best.
I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!
I had planned to just tutor my kid, and that entire plan fell apart within minutes. And I was scared.
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