You've probably read about our mass shooting at King Soopers Table Mesa. I'll wager you underestimated the value and inclusiveness of this place though. How could you possibly understand that the day a psycho shot to death 10 community members in and outside our neighborhood store, he also killed a sense of security, peace and safety we had all taken for granted. (And were entitled to.)
To me, Table Mesa King Soopers was a regular morning Starbucks stop, flowers for a friend, a gift card for a client, organic fruit and vegetables, maybe a prescription pickup and definitely, definitely a source of marked down butchery meats for our kitties. It was quick stop for forgotten ingredients, mid-recipe... like 4x a week!
I was normally in and out. No drama. There was plenty of expectation they'd have just what I was missing. But if I couldn't find something, there was always a KS employee willing to walk me all the way to the right isle and actively search with me until it was found.
All of that has changed.
I'd like to think that when we're done learning to breathe normally in supermarkets again, when the victims have been laid to rest, when the investigative teams have stopped looking for bullet casings and our store has been cleaned up, it will reopen and we'll resume our happy, relaxed south Boulder lives.
We won't though. That's impossible. This shooting has forever changed how safe we feel, going about everyday activities in public places.
We used to live in the Boulder Bubble. We bragged about our lives in privileged Boulder, with low crime, low average BMI, excellent schools and high "happiness" ratings. Most of us never felt the need to keep doors locked and we enjoyed watching kids buzz back and forth on our neighborhood streets, without adult supervision. We were proud to be part of a city that offers extensive protections and services to groups of at risk community members.
It's not like danger never crossed our minds... We carried pepper spray and cell phones and whistles for dangers of the wildlife kind as we hiked and played in the Boulder foothills! However, we were not prepared to protect ourselves and each other from the devastating effects of an assault weapon, bought legally, by a deranged young man and discharged at the grocery store.
Yep. Things have changed. We have changed. Thoughts and prayers are falling WAY short of being comforting. In fact, the Lauren Boebert's of our country can just stick their thoughts and prayers where the sun doesn't shine!
Our community is suffering together. One broken person reaching out to help another broken person. And we're trying to do it while simultaneously respecting a COVID-mandated ban on hugs that has been in place more than a year now.
2021 was supposed to be better.
First photo courtesy of the Daily Camera. Long before I could go there in person.
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We are expecting a fully renovated store to reopen sometime this fall.
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