When did this become normal?

Yesterday I was writing a blog for NcV and it really made me think. I was talking about a walk I took home from work the other day, so I will tell you a similiar story from the night before. In Cochabamba there was a large meeting of Presidents and Prime Ministers from 17 different Latin American and Caribbean countries, therefore there was heavy security all around the Recoleta (uptown Cochabamba). It was around seven on Thursday evening and I was walking to the laundrette which is around the corner from the hotel that everyone was staying. Right outside there was a row of 4 pick-ups each with around 10 policemen all with guns, teargas launchers, the full riot gear. I collected my laundry in a big bag which I slung over my shoulder and waded through all the military and police to get home. There must have been around 200 of them, and funnily enough no-one ever asked to check my bag... I could have had anything in there!

The next afternoon I had to walk through a barricade of riot police to get home and it started me thinking. When did this become normal? I thought of myself 10 years ago walking around seeing everyone with weapons and how much that would have freaked me out. I think it all started in Guatemala when every security guard had a weapon, be it outside a bank or out side the local Burger King. Here, with there being so many protests etc there are so many more people with guns. I cant remember how many times I have been around when the riot police have shot gas cannisters in the area (interesting fact, burning tyres lessen the effects of tear gas!). It has become normal. I remember when I was back in the UK, sitting in heathrow airport with my dad when 2 policemen with tiny wee guns went running through the area. My dad was all excited, wondering what was going on and I noticed that I had kinda blanked on it. I saw that it happened, it just didnt register that it was abnormal. I guess that since they even have riot police at the football matches here, a few policemen with guns doesnt faze me at all!

These events got me to thinking about other things. What else has become "normal"? It is so easy to be numbed to things you see. If you watch the news you hear about suicide bombers, wars, famines, and all manner of terrible things, but as we see if so often how much of it do we actually take in? Honestly, I find myself saddened, but quickly forgetful, changing the channel to something else. And how about here in Cochabamba? Seeing yet another family begging for money, another unkempt street child begging for some spare change, another baby being found in a dumpster? I hope and pray that these things will NEVER become normal to me. That I would never lose compassion, nor fail to be shocked by the poverty and desperation that I see around me.