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There have been two mass shootings in my city in the last 4 years. The first was a mile from my house on a popular bar hopping street that I had been to countless times. Many of my friends were there that night, some while it happened, and the only reason I wasn't, was because I flaked on plans last second to stay home and play video games.

Everywhere felt a lot different after that, it felt surreal. You could sense this difference on everyone around you as well. What helped the most was to just continue my routine and go out of my way to smile or be nice to strangers I passed by. Time went on, I kept doing my morning walks down that street, kept going to work every morning, and eventually it just stopped occupying my mind at all.