Littleton's Pain, Our Tears by MARK WATKINS Wednesday, April 28, 1998 The news from Columbine High School affected countless Americans very deeply. In the 24 hours following the tragedy in Littleton I saw and heard of men and women barely able to conceal surprisingly strong emotions. At my office some women were out of sorts. I was told that some wept spontaneously while others stayed on the verge of tears. Similar behaviors were noted around the country. "The Wall Street Journal" observed the same phenomena. Men dealt with their pain differently. Otherwise stout fellows were uncharacteristically disjointed, short-tempered, or outright angry. Fathers were especially distraught. Some of them wept, too.

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I was told of teenagers so upset that they stayed home from school. Some who did go to school were unable to concentrate in class. Teachers who saw this abandoned the day's lessons and opened the floor for discussion. Some -- girls -- cried, openly or in the girls' room. Some -- boys -- made jokes. Many schools launched fleets of counselors "to help the kids cope," whatever that means. These reactions were reminiscent of the untimely death of Princess Diana, except this was immeasurably more personal. Very few people "knew" Diana. These were children, slaughtered for no good reason by other children. Everyone talked about Littleton. Parents whirled away from their world and zeroed in on their children. There was frank talk about school cliques, feelings and fears. Crisis hotlines reported a surge in calls. In the days that followed there were town hall meetings, church sermons and late-night phone calls as sleepless friends tried to console each other. Genuine fear arose and we raised our guard. School lockers were searched and backpacks examined. Washington, D.C., evacuated all 146 public schools after a bomb threat was phoned in to just one. Vigilance in a small central Texas town uncovered two young teens planning a similar school assault. Good God, how many more of these nutsoid teenagers are out there, and where? Are my children next? What all this means is for smarter people to declare, but there is one thing we now know. The neighbors, friends and families of the Littleton shooting victims are as close to us right now as our own families. The reality is that soon Americans will turn their attention to other matters, if only to the daily grind. But today we are hung over from the ache and the tears. And we know this: we Americans may be ass-kissing careerists, social climbers, posers and egoists, but we also retain a deep sense of family which has been reawakened by the Littleton tragedy. For those convinced the country is going to Hell in a hand basket, it's assurance that while the country may near Hell at times, it knows not to get too close.

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