This isn't the United States I grew up in. I don't recognize it. Today, I:

• Paid $4.46/gal for gas

• My closest healthfood store is closing due to a lack of sales

• Another 14 kids were shot dead at their school in Texas

• There's a baby formula shortage here in the USA; we had to get formula airlifted from overseas!

And here I am, catching myself reacting to it.

I'm reacting to it in my own way with my life experience of being a responsible gun enthusiast since I was a kid... And from the experience of working in the addiction field and seeing lives shattered by all the wrong things. I've seen life go sideways more than not.

I have nothing to call for. I have nothing to protest. I'm tired.

I don't want to react; I prefer to respond, but I have no response.

It feels gross to try and have a response.

I'm Generation X—we were the last to grow up without all this madness.