The Omaha Shooting

Let me preface by saying that I am a resident of Omaha to attend Creighton University during the school year.  So, yes, I was in town when this event occurred. If you are thinking, “What Omaha shooting?” Well then, here it is.  This article includes all the major details for you.

Some of the things I heard said today-

“That could’ve been me!”

“I almost went to the mall today, I thought about it.”  

“I shop there all the time…”

 ”How could this happen here?”

I feel quite detached from the whole experience and I felt the need to explain to my friends and family why my shopping habits at not only that mall but the store itself will remain unchanged.  My life continues unabated, despite the fact that 14 people died in or around the store that I spend the most time in.  The reason I am blogging about this is because I seemed to upset some people for disagreeing with their reasons to be paranoid about shopping there and lightheartedly told my worried family members with frustration- Of course I’m alive!

So here are a few of my reasons to continue your holiday shopping as planned (after the mall is no longer a crime scene). 

+ It was a fluke.  The guy had no reason to pick that particular store or mall.  He was disgruntled over losing his family, home, girlfriend and job.  He didn’t have a real motive for that particular store or people inside.  He wasn’t upset at the store, but the world as a whole.

+ Dying is dying.  Living your life in fear of it is not profitable.

+ Shit happens everywhere.  The assumption that middle sized city in the Midwest is absolutely safe is inaccurate, to say the least.  To be fair, this was the worst killing Omaha has ever seen, but that only furthers my argument that it was out of the ordinary or a fluke.

+ I’m not a mall rat.  I guess I might be more upset if I cared more for shopping.

I think that after this semester I am a lot less afraid of something happening to me.  Yes, be careful, drive defensively, lock your doors at night, but do not let paranoia rule your life.  Go buy some clothes for Christmas and get over it.  Yes, I sound harsh, but I am also right.

******

Since I left them out of the last two entries, enjoy-

#9 I hate the way cold nights in winter and early spring sound in the trees and streets.  The dark cold gives me adrenaline bursts of fear when I am walking alone.

#10 Some times I mock you when you’re not around. 

#11 Recently I’ve begun to wish I wasn’t me and was someone you wanted me to be. 

 

This is Budweiser, this is beer.

Budweiser has put forth a new local advertisement since Budweiser became the first ever Alcohol Company to sponsor the Creighton Blue Jays.  Though it has been out for some time this semester, I first heard about the ad during a speech tonight that berated it for “encouraging underage drinking,” I must say that I disagree. There’s nothing within the ad that really promotes underage drinking so much as promotes community and some united idea of fanaticism of a team.  In fact, there is not a single individual within the ad that is actually drinking and the product is never featured.

Further, I think I come away from the ad with positive feelings toward both Budweiser and Creighton/the Qwest Center.  This was reinforced by talking to F who explained that while the commercial was hokey and seemed out of place, it was simply Budweiser making itself part of the community, as if they were giving something back.  I will agree that it is hokey and seemingly out of place, but it is also catchy and mildly annoying.  So, in short, I decided to support the ad and rebuke the underage drinkers in my blog entry.

Then, however, my friend Houghton, from the Creighton Business School, pointed out, “The ad could be applicable to any school, given that they just trade out the visuals and leave the song. The song doesn’t specify Creighton.”  But yet, it seems specified to Creighton and was created for the sole purpose of local tv commercials and being shown during the games.  The jingle is for us, at least for the time being.  This doubt caused me to wonder if it could be true.  Was Budweiser signing contracts with schools only to fit visuals with a stock song and send the schools on their way?  That would greatly decrease the cost of advertisement, but would that really pay off for Budweiser?  In the end though, even if was used for multiple schools, does that hurt Creighton, Budweiser, The Qwest Center, or the fans?  The answer is no to all of them.  After a pretty exhaustive search of youtube.com I found nothing similar in the way of Budweiser commercials.  I did, however, manage to find some really cheesy bear ads from the 1980’s. 

In my opinion it gets the job done for the school spirited fans. For a beer commercial, is certainly is acceptable by me and is at least different from other ads out there right now.  And as a final advantage to the ad that perhaps should have been more of the crux of this whole argument- it’s good financial support for Creighton, the team, and the Qwest Center.  The ad is all around good, despite it being for a beer, but even beers need good wholesome ads, every once in a while.  And surprisingly, it didn’t even need to use sex appeal to sell the product.

Check it out for yourself: