Accepting a new level of risk

The most recent mass shootings give me yet another reason to pause…or not

I live in a predominantly Hispanic area. When I go to Target, the bank, my pharmacy, Home Depot, Planet Fitness…the employees and the clients/members/patients/customers are as — or more — likely to be speaking Spanish to one another as English.

Unlike some in our country, I’m not enraged by this. To be fluent in two languages — and those around me can flip to English in the blink of an eye — is a skill I envy, a talent I’ve been actively trying to foster for years. I try to listen in, to better understand.

So the idea that I could be mowed down on a peaceful day while running errands in my neighborhood because of this quality of the place in which I live leaves me without words.

Because I’ve come to terms with school shootings. I’m aware of the risk. My daughter is becoming a teacher, and I choose schools for my volunteer efforts. Two major school shootings — Columbine and STEM Highlands Ranch — were just down the road from me here near Denver. I still fear for my daughter, and I want to encase her future kindergarten classroom in bulletproof glass. Sandy Hook lives on for me. But I realize that her workplace is a dangerous one.

And I know about gathering places. The Aurora movie theater shooting took place just across…