What Happened That Day (Human Condition)

After an extensive Wiki-thon, I somehow ended up at McDonald's history time-line. I got looking at how McDonald's has changed throughout the years......but, I noticed that the time-line seemed rather long. The reason for this was that it also included some not-so-good facts about McDonald's as well. One of which I had never known existed, being that I was only 4 years old when it happened.

On July 18th, 1984 in San Ysidro, California, a man named James Huberty walked into a McDonald's at about 4pm and opened fire. He killed 21 people and injured 19. His victims' age ranged from 6 months old to around 70 years old. The whole ordeal lasted for almost an hour and a half, when he was finally taken out by a sniper.

I was curious beyond what Wikipedia had to say about it, so I dug further. I pulled up articles, old news footage, and photos.........and got sucked into a sadness that I hope I, or my loved ones, never have to experience firsthand. It did compel me to start writing. To this day, I've never written a poem as long in as little time as I did with this one. It's a little morbid, but I put the pen to the paper and words started showing up quickly.........

What happened that day

In your mind, a warped dismay

The human condition is all to real

To much pain to just sit and feel

How many emotions in your mind

Why was violence the easiest to find

What caused you to snap, fire, strike out

Noone'll ever know what this was about

The guns, the bullets, the blood, the rage

You gunned them down, no matter the age

Holes in the windows and blood on the floor

When people were injured, you fired some more

Nobody had known, no time to prepare

You took 21 lives without any care

You hurt just as many, realities shattered

They laid and watched, as bullets scattered

An hour and a half, and then SWAT came

A sniper fired with great precision and aim

A round to the heart and then it was done

A murderer, forever changed the lives of some

Their minds and their skin were left so scarred

Their perception of life forever marred

One man changed so many in just one day

That one afternoon just can't go away

You took away their hopes and dreams

Replaced it all with gun-shots and screams

Kids and teens, it couldn't seem real

You gunned down families who just stopped for a meal

And when it was over, survivors rushed outside

With so many wounds and losses too great to hide

The 19 that lived and a community left to mourn

A McDonald's torn down, a memorial to adorn

So much pain to watch and feel

The human condition is all to real

A family restaurant left in disarray

San Ysidro won't forget, what happened that day

~Dena Kabat 12/12/11

Take some time to tell the ones you love just how much you love them. You never know if, in your daily routine, something could go horribly wrong.......preventing you from saying "I Love You" to them, ever again.