Seung Cho and what I know
Title
Seung Cho and what I know
Description
I was in his playwriting class last fall. I was always a quiet guy myself, not really making too many friends during my years at Virginia Tech. On a couple of occasions, we'd end up sitting close to each other. I had always thought that Cho was a little "off" but since I was strange in my own right, I didn't think too much of it. People like Cho and I never seem to make friends easily and the fact that we were both loners of sorts made me pay a little more attention to him that usual.
Just before Christmas I passed by Seung Cho while he was walking around the Drill Field, a little more sad-looking than usual. I offered him a cigarette which he refused with a wave of his hand. I then tried to talk to him about one of the plays we had recently reviewed in class and he finally started talking a little. We talked about the plot and the characters when suddenly Cho asked me what others had thought about his "Richard McBeef" story.
It was then that I told Seung Cho that some of the others in the class were a little concerned with his writing. Seung seemed to get a kick out of that because he suddenly had a smile where only a grin existed before. I told him that some people were talking about him before class, talking about he was a little strange acting and with this play of his, some other students joked about him being a charter member of the trenchcoat mafia. Cho wondered what that was, so I told him about the whole Littleton, Colorado school shooting. He seemed intrigued by my words. We talked a little more about "sticking it to the man" and how good it feels to break things sometimes. I used to steal cars and smash them into buildings, Seung mentioned he liked to hurt things. I didn't ask anymore questions.
After that day I thought differently about Seung-Hui Cho. I thought I might read about him in the paper one day, and not for any good reason.
And then it happened. All over the news. School shooting at Virginia Tech. My first thoughts when my mother called and asked me if I was okay was, " I wonder if it was Cho?!" After getting off the phone with my mom, I smiled a little knowing that Cho had gotten what he wanted. Revenge.
Cho Seung-Hui has gone and done what many of us "loners" only wish we had the courage do to. I too have often thought of taking my anger out on innocents, but unlike Seung Cho, I just don't have the courage to pull the trigger. He did.
I feel bad for the victims, but not too much. Perhaps people will start paying closer attention to us loners before we end up making ourselves popular, for all the wrong reasons!
--
Original Source: <a href="http://thestoriesyoucannottell.blogspot.com/2007/04/seung-cho-and-what-i-know.html">http://thestoriesyoucannottell.blogspot.com/2007/04/seung-cho-and-what-i-know.html</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.
Just before Christmas I passed by Seung Cho while he was walking around the Drill Field, a little more sad-looking than usual. I offered him a cigarette which he refused with a wave of his hand. I then tried to talk to him about one of the plays we had recently reviewed in class and he finally started talking a little. We talked about the plot and the characters when suddenly Cho asked me what others had thought about his "Richard McBeef" story.
It was then that I told Seung Cho that some of the others in the class were a little concerned with his writing. Seung seemed to get a kick out of that because he suddenly had a smile where only a grin existed before. I told him that some people were talking about him before class, talking about he was a little strange acting and with this play of his, some other students joked about him being a charter member of the trenchcoat mafia. Cho wondered what that was, so I told him about the whole Littleton, Colorado school shooting. He seemed intrigued by my words. We talked a little more about "sticking it to the man" and how good it feels to break things sometimes. I used to steal cars and smash them into buildings, Seung mentioned he liked to hurt things. I didn't ask anymore questions.
After that day I thought differently about Seung-Hui Cho. I thought I might read about him in the paper one day, and not for any good reason.
And then it happened. All over the news. School shooting at Virginia Tech. My first thoughts when my mother called and asked me if I was okay was, " I wonder if it was Cho?!" After getting off the phone with my mom, I smiled a little knowing that Cho had gotten what he wanted. Revenge.
Cho Seung-Hui has gone and done what many of us "loners" only wish we had the courage do to. I too have often thought of taking my anger out on innocents, but unlike Seung Cho, I just don't have the courage to pull the trigger. He did.
I feel bad for the victims, but not too much. Perhaps people will start paying closer attention to us loners before we end up making ourselves popular, for all the wrong reasons!
--
Original Source: <a href="http://thestoriesyoucannottell.blogspot.com/2007/04/seung-cho-and-what-i-know.html">http://thestoriesyoucannottell.blogspot.com/2007/04/seung-cho-and-what-i-know.html</a>
Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.
Creator
null
Date
2007-06-02
Contributor
Brent Jesiek
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5
Language
eng
Citation
null, “Seung Cho and what I know,” The April 16 Archive, accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.april16archive.org/items/show/357.