I was thinking about the shootings today — in particular, the reason why people choose to go crazy in the places they do. I understand the Columbine shootings because the kids who attended the high school directly outcast Klebold and Harris, but why colleges? The Dawson College shootings last year in Quebec performed by that stupid goth guy and this one today make me wonder why people choose colleges? People in college don't really pick on certain people, and there's no real hierarchy — there's no one specific group to blame for your anger! Not only that, but probably more importantly, it's cliché. School shootings are stupid for their own good reasons, but this idea of choosing educational institutions is getting old. Why?! Why schools? I'm not against flipping out and shooting a bunch of people, but make sure they deserve it. Why doesn't anyone go shithouse and shoot up the Westboro Baptist Church during a Sunday sermon? (Or better yet, during a protest at a gay troop's funeral.) Why not storm into a war profiteering corporation and shoot up their CEO? For the love of God, there are so many more people that deserve to be killed other than people trying to get an education. Go to Alabama and just start shooting. You'll probably hit someone that deserves it, and they'll probably have guns themselves, so you won't have [to] end up popping a cap in your own head when you're done with your rampage.

BTW, when I go on my rampage (and let's be honest, I probably will) I'm going to do it at a zoo because I want everyone to know that I'm that fucking crazy. I'm going to kill a giraffe and machete a gorilla in the throat. I'll throw myself into the eagle cage for my suicide. Because, metaphorically, it means America killed me. And you know what? I'll die fucking famous and crazy with the best Wikipedia entry ever. Because let's face it, we're all going to judge our life by the Wikipedia entry we leave behind. And I want my "Tom Goes to the Mayor" icon on my tombstone.

You can read the post and understand why it raised concern, but you can also truly understand what I wrote and discern that I was speaking against violence and that I was being my strangely humorous self again. Dell HR did not see it this way, and I am now no longer employed by them. I was never given any official policies regarding blogs; all I knew was that any Dell documents marked "Confidential" and personal customer information shouldn't be spoken of outside of company facilities. Although the post was written before I was employed with Dell, that it mentioned shootings, and that I made an obviously tongue-in-cheek reference to me going on a rampage at a zoo … a zoo … where animals are kept; Dell regarded it as a threat to safety. I'm not sure what their investigation included over the past few days, but I wonder if they really have a better understanding of me because of it. Did they look at my criminal history — which only includes some speeding tickets? Possibly. Did they call any of my friends, family, or past and current co-workers? Probably not. If they had, I wouldn't be here writing this because I know my friends and co-workers know that I'm a pretty good person.

So here I am — a person who's done right his entire life. Never done drugs or been drunk because he listened to the DARE officers in grade school. A person who's made it a priority to maintain a good credit rating so he can achieve "The 'Merican Dream" and buy [a] bunch of crap for his own happiness. I try to learn everything I can about technology so I can move higher and higher up the technology career ladder. But I'm crazy in the eyes of some corporate HR people. I have a bachelor's degree in Philosophy. I spent four years of my life studying ethics and morality, yet I'm regarded as someone who might not have value for human life.