What Were You Thinking? An Editorial
The News
On February 12, 2023, the bomb squad was called to the Goodwill store in Round Lake Beach, IL. An employee, sorting through donations, came across what looked to be a live grenade. The police were called. The store evacuated. The bomb squad showed up. The grenade proved void of explosive materials and harmless. Thank goodness everyone returned to their lives that day.
I, however, have questions. I want to know why.
That had to be planned, right?
In this day and age, no one can randomly turn in what looks like a bomb and not expect there to be a reaction.
Was this a social experiment?
Did Sociology majors at some nearby college buy a tester grenade off of eBay.com, put it in a bag, drop it off, and then sit in their car, clipboards in hand excitedly waiting to see what would happen?
Was someone reaching for Influencer Level as a prankster on YouTube?
Does that person realize they will be arrested if found out?
Did no one think to check the internet on the best way to turn over a possible weapon?
The grenade was the skeleton of a real grenade. It wasn’t plastic or bought in a toy store.
Are people really that indifferent?
Someone didn’t know what to do with this thing. It was passed on to become someone else’s problem.
Was it a family relic left over from Grandpa’s wartime days?
Now that Grandpa is gone, did a family think someone else’s family may want the “toy?”
At the end of the day
Goodwill drop-offs are, for the most part, anonymous and untraceable. I will never know who caused such a commotion on February 12, 2023. I am left to my suppositions. People mindlessly do stupid things. As the news processed through the nearby communities, I am hoping that a certain knowledgeable person heard the news, looked up from a screen, and realized the impact on many people due to that one action.
