Not irony...

So. Late last night, James and I popped in Bowling for Columbine.

Okay, okay, relax... I'm not going to feed you some massive opinionated rant about America, Americans, guns, stupidity, fear, and how fucking glad I am to live in Canada. I have one, but today is not the day for it.

There's just something that is going to linger in my brain all day...

On the desk in front of me, there are two letters. One is my proof copy of an application for an academic scholarship. The other is the congratulatory letter and $1 000 cheque, which I'm going to deposit in my bank account sometime within the next few days. I received the cheque last week, after the application was mailed to me sometime in early December.

Normally, like any student concerned with their post-secondary survival, living on their own with full-time studies, a part-time job, and little-time life, I wouldn't really care all that much where my money comes from. Honest. Sad, selfish, and petty, but honest.

But this one lingers, especially after last night.

I received the Jason Lang Memorial Scholarship.

Does the name ring any bells? If it doesn't, let me clarify. Jason Lang was a 17 year old student living in the small Alberta town of Taber, not a far drive from Calgary for people wanting to sell their famous Taber corn. Jason was shot and killed on April 28th, 1999 by a 14 year old boy at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta. The newspapers called it a 'Columbine Copycat'.

After Bowling for Columbine's credits rolled, I stared at my desk for a while, and the two letters resting by my keyboard.

I don't know what to think, only that I'll be thinking about it for a while.