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A man attacks and stabs an Asian-American family in a Texan supermarket–including a two-year-old–because according to the official report “he thought the family was Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus”.
Another man intentionally derails the freight train he’s driving at high speed in an attempt to damage or destroy the USNS Mercy, a hospital ship deployed to L.A. to help with the Covid-19 pandemic, because he found its presence “suspicious.”
I would venture to say we’re all coming a bit unglued as the virus swirls on through the world’s populace, but some are coming more unglued than others. The train incident in particular sound like someone may have watched Fury Road once too often:
The affidavit also detailed videos taken from inside the train. In one, Moreno ignites a road flare inside the train, the affidavit said. He then “put the train in full speed and held his hand toward the camera with his middle finger raised.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes you just get a little snap and man, it was fricking exciting… I just had it and I was committed,” Moreno told police, according to the affidavit. “I just went for it, I had one chance.”
Complex systems can glitch or break under stress–particularly the more fragile ones–and a given person’s mental state certainly can fall under that heading. While the logistical situation in the United States continues to be a snarl of shortages and finger-pointing and toilet paper continues to be absent from the shelves, we’ve hit skyrocketing (hopefully temporary) unemployment levels as businesses shutter or downsize to try to weather the storm intact. Then there’s the social isolation, which it’s safe to say is a difficult thing for most people to deal with if the traditional prison punishment of solitary confinement is anything to go by.
Uncertainty, fear, isolation, upending of routine… not all of us, in fact I’d say the majority of us aren’t going to go Mad Max in response to these factors, but the stress is real and we haven’t even reached the peak of the infection yet.
But it’s undeniable that there are those where all it takes is getting “a little snap,” and they are out there. Stay safe.