It's the Quiet Ones You Have to Watch

Derrick Bird, 52, of Rowrah, England, went on a killing spree. Firing away while driving through several towns, including Whitehaven, Egremont, Seascale and Gosforth. At least five are confirmed dead, and 25 wounded.

Alright, nothing too new here. Some guy snaps, shoots a bunch of people, and, of course, finishes off himself somewhere quiet.

The cliché here is the neighbours' reactions: "He was a quiet fellow." and "He kept to himself most of the time." and "He lived alone." and so on and so forth.

So uhh... everybody agrees this is getting to be a cliché, right? Lone guy, lives by himself, keeps to himself, snaps, shoots a bunch of people and then offs himself? Right?

So how come it still surprises ANYONE when some loner who keeps away from people breaks his biscuit? Ted Bundy was a quiet, charming guy who mostly kept to himself, and he killed over two dozen women. And that was ALMOST 40 YEARS AGO!

Hence, I have a prediction. Soon, we will see a newspaper or online news service report another of these assholes who take their pain out on strangers, and some neighbour, mark my words, will say;

"He was sort of a loner, really. Kept to himself most of the time. It was no surprise, really. I mean, seriously, it's the quiet ones you have to watch."

-F.