We’re human and get tested again and again. Because we’re different, we react differently to life’s challenges and situations that upset us. That said, we should avoid violence regardless of the magnitude of distress. I’m not trying to lecture anyone because until you’re in someone’s shoes, you don’t exactly know their experience and what they’re dealing with. Still, I say, violence is not the answer. Every time I read about crimes of passion, say where a husband caught his wife cheating and killed the lovers or acid victims of those whose advances they rejected, I silently wish the perpetrator had just talked to someone about what they were about to do. And whoever they confided in would have talked some sense into them. Reading about Nasim Aghdam, the now infamous “YouTube Shooter”, I strongly believe some counselling would have helped. According to reports, the 39 year- old YouTube Creator wasn’t too happy when the Platform started censoring her videos which in turn affected her income, previously earned from paid adverts on her Videos. Anyone would be flustered. Losing a job or your source of income sucks, especially if you didn’t see it coming. If you live paycheck to paycheck like many of us do, you make plans long before you even get paid so losing that source of income is bound to upset anyone because you start to worry about how to make ends meets. How do you pay the rent, take care of the children and generally survive with the money suddenly cut off? Your first thought is to beg and plead with the employer to give you another chance and break it down to him or her that you really need this job and can they please reconsider and rehire you. In most cases, no amount of cajoling works. Once you’re sacked, you’re sacked and it may seem like the world is coming to an end and in a way, it does. But we need to remember that however depressing and hopeless the situation seems, resorting to violence only makes things worse. What good is killing your former Boss except landing you in jail for the rest of your life? We need to think these things through. How do you want to be remembered? How will your actions impact your family and friends? Because that’s what happens in the wake of these incidents. People start referring to your loved ones as “The killer’s mother, brother or daughter.” Like I said, sometimes all it takes is confiding in someone. People are talked out of decisions and actions they initially thought they had to take all the time! How more important in scenarios where they’re likely to hurt themselves or others? Like the saying goes, a problem shared… Nasim could have reached out to her family, other YouTube Personalities and even the YouTube Execs themselves and who knows, maybe someone would have helped. But it’s too late now because she’s dead and will forever be remembered as the “YouTube Shooter” when she could have accomplished a lot more.
