I Can Walk, Sarah Cannot

I thought about how lucky I am to be able to take that walk.

A killing, a slaughter really, at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, has made any thinking person turn that little phrase over in their heads, the one about "there but for the grace of God...."

I drove to take my walk. I know that makes little sense, except that I wanted to walk a trail in the forest preserve.

It's been a long and cold winter here, and today was a little break in the weather. The sun was out and it was above
freezing.

After being cooped up it was good to get out and stretch my legs. Snow was still piled on the trail, and I crunched along. Off the trail, the dormant brown grasses made little islands in a smooth sea of pure white snow.

This was exactly what I needed.

Besides a lot of deadline pressures and some vexing personal issues, this killing bothers me.

Five woman were killed, because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were either working at Lane Bryant or shopping. It was fate that brought them to the ugly spot where a still uncaught killer blindfolded them and executed them with a bullet to the head. One other woman was injured, and is in protective custody. Tinley Park, where this massacre occurred, is a bedroom community outside Chicago. This is beyond the ability of the police to handle it. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but big crime in Tinley Park is usually kids cruising too fast down the main drag, Oak Park Avenue. If this happened in Chicago it would be a calamity for the police and for the city. As of this point, I don't believe the local police have asked the state police for help.

The killing is a horror. The shock to the community another horror. Yet, a group of fanatics, whom I will no longer name, wanted to come and picket at the funeral of two of the local women. Why? Because this insane group of incest polluted scum are upset with Lane Bryant. Why? Because supposedly the store sells clothing to transsexuals or transvestites. How they know this, who can tell? I happened to see my last transvestite at line in Sears.

Because she is the youngest at 22, Sarah Szafranski's death has been eating away at me. Why should it, you ask? Even I ask. I never met her, don't know her, never even heard the family name. The local paper published a picture of a shy looking girl who was just getting out in the world. Then later, news tells of these scum who plan to picket her funeral. Maybe I feel this way because Sarah would be about the age of my daughter, had I one.

Fortunately, it looks as if they won't be able to get within two blocks of the church. The media is set up across the street and the police are everywhere. Even if they do eventually show up they will be thankfully out of sight and sound.

I don't know if Sarah has any brothers or cousins. Chances are she might. They might be feeling a lot of anger and pain. Their hearts are broken. A girl goes to buy some clothes, and she is executed. Those brothers and cousins, if they find out that the scum who dare call themselves "Christian", are in the neighborhood, they might get a little satisfaction. See, the killer is still on the loose. They can't get at him. But they can easily find a group of haters with signs and a PA system. Then they can rip their hearts out.

The killer has been profiled by former FBI profilers. They say he will kill again. Let's hope he finds a church. Let's hope that church is in Topeka, Kansas.