I wonder if the shooting in Allen might lead to people arguing about politics on Facebook. That never happens, but this one stands out.

I was having a lovely afternoon Saturday when I started receiving text after text after text. Typically, these discussions involve associates debating hard hitting issues like [and these have really happened in the past month] our favorite pastas and the degree to which pantsing someone could be considered inappropriate.

So I didn’t feel the need to check my phone immediately.

But text after text after text.

So I roll my eyes and pull out my phone to learn what’s happening.

Frankly, a discussion about pantsing would have been more enjoyable.

There might, just might, be websites where people can argue with each other about politics, so the editorial board here at 1 Scaianalysis Esplanade maintains we should focus on the positive.

I’ve covered mass shootings before, so regrettably, I knew how to develop a gameplan. I pulled in and started shoving my microphone in people’s faces to learn what had happened.

I had a captive audience, just hundreds of people with nowhere to go. Everyone had to evacuate the mall and leave their cars in the parking lot. Police couldn’t let people back because they had an active crime scene, so people started calling family and rideshares to come pick them up.

I talked to a mom who was sitting on the curb with her kids. Her description of having to take her kids out through a crime scene can be hard to hear. Given the question I ask here, I feel like her response is comparable to what we all were thinking, but if you listen to this, a heads-up her language is borderline salty.

But #ScaiaBlog is about hope.

Mr. Rogers taught us all to look for the helpers.

The Scaianalysis Editorial Board made that conscious effort, Mr. Rogers.

With hundreds of people standing out in the middle of a hot, humid day, the gas station across the street sold out of bottled water.

In the next parking lot up, I noticed a couple guys handing out bottled water. One of them said his sister-in-law was there shopping.

He doesn’t live too far away, and when he saw everyone was going to have to spend a couple hours standing in the sun, he and his neighbor loaded some cartons of bottled water into the truck and brought it there.

His sister-in-law is pregnant, and he says the trip also helped him get his mind off the idea of her being in danger.

His family was okay, and when I went back for another round of microphone shovin’ today, a memorial was growing.

People were signing crosses for each victim and leaving flowers and cards. Each person explained this is Texas, and even while we argue about guns and pronouns, we still look out for each other when something happens in our neighborhood.

Another man left a bear wearing a t-shirt reading, “Don’t hate in my state,” and says he was glad to see how big the memorial has already become.

The shooter may draw attention, but we can show everyone how Texans respond in a crisis, and that shooter does not represent the rest of us.

The Atlantic, meanwhile, says we’re being naive by looking for the helpers [“Which is exactly what people back east would say,” many of you are thinking while you roll your eyes]. They’re right to say that’s not a catch-all, but since we’re already sick of each other again and back to arguing about politics, stories like these can be reassuring.

Maybe not everyone is just awful.

If that sounds too radical, take solace in the knowledge the universe is just a hologram anyhow.