Suppressed Anger.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine moved from Seattle to a small town in Virginia, about 30 miles from Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech University. I emailed him earlier this week to make sure everything was okay with him and his family. It was.

He gave me a Virginia Tech t-shirt last year and I considered wearing it after the shooting this week, but I decided that the man-on-the-street may not want to be reminded of a tragedy via t-shirt. So it remains buried in the bottom of a dresser drawer.

Some folks a couple of blocks from me are hanging a Virginia Tech banner from their balcony. Their intentions are undoubtedly benevolent -- a tribute and a memorial. (Perhaps they are alumni?) But I wonder how their immediate neighbors feel about this constant reminder.

In my old apartment, "Impeach Bush" and "No Iraq War" signs hung proudly in my window. But now that I live where I do, in a quieter neighborhood with quieter neighbors, I leave those signs buried in the bottom of a dresser drawer.