When I was in fifth grade, my very concerned mother checked me out of school early one Monday afternoon and drove me to a local doctor’s office after I’d been experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort in my left eye. It was watering constantly. I could barely keep it open. It felt like something was stuck in there, but we couldn’t see anything. Still, trying to function normally just wasn’t possible. Clearly something was wrong.
I recall that the doctor who treated me that day put some kind of goo in my injured eye and then looked at it under some black light. He told my mother that it looked like my cornea had been turned into an ice-skating rink. There were numerous scratches crisscrossing all over the surface. He then put some eye drops in my eye, taped some gauze over it and handed over … the patch.
Ah, yes. An eye patch — just what every shy, self-conscious 11-year-old girl wants to wear to school for three days. I was instructed to NOT open my eye and wear the patch, and my cornea would heal up nicely without any other treatment.
I’m sure by now you’re wondering what happened to my eye. Well, let’s rewind to Sunday morning, the day before my visit to the doctor. A group of girls from Sunday school and I were making crafts and ornaments for Christmas. One of my friends grabbed some glitter and flicked it into my face. That’s when at least one large chunky piece of red glitter entered my left eye and apparently did a salchow, loop, flip and axel before being escorted out by a host of heavy tears and rapid blinks.
A Lesson in Safety Mindset
I share all of this because I was considering how I’ve literally experienced more serious injuries from glitter than from guns. I’m sure the anti-gun crowd would scoff at such an observation and ask: “How is that possible? Guns are dangerous!” But that’s the thing… it’s the PERSON with the gun that poses the danger. And it’s all about intent. If people are malicious or careless with something (any kind of thing!), people can get hurt … even if it’s just a handful of tiny metallic flakes. My friend may not have considered the fact that she could slice up my cornea with a thin, minuscule square weapon. But she was definitely being mean and unsafe when she tossed the glitter straight into my face.
At any rate, this awkward trip down memory lane just reiterates and verifies why firearms safety is so important and why the correct mindset is imperative! Whether you choose to have guns or glitter — or both — you must always be mindful and responsible.
