European Dream

He was American. Prosperity, excess and accomplishment; It's all present in that accent. Even before I learnt his name, I knew I wanted to test him in a way that only non-Americans can. As a traveler, you're always on the outside looking in.
His name was Eric and he was from Miami. Asking his name, where he lived in America and what he was doing in Kraków on this Saturday night was enough to let him know that I wasn't going away.
When I think of America, I think of the three Gs. Greed. Gratuity. And guns. He was studying history in Oslo. After holding my own in a discussion about the differences in price per square foot of apartments in Florida compared to New York City, then frustratingly doing my best to understand why it took me forever to get a drink at a bar in LA, I said to Eric, 'there's one more topic I need to raise with you'.
Guns. All I did was say the word. What came next was uninhibited passion and deep-seeded turmoil.
"My best friend's brother.. Walking home from school.. Some gang banger comes up to him.. Puts a 9mm to his temple and says.. 'Are you ready to die?'" Eric was shouting at me, having to take a breath between each phrase, possibly due to a combination of remembering these emotional memories and having now consumed one too many whiskey shots. The gang banger pulled the trigger. No one knows why. Most of all, the shooter himself. Eric put his fingers to my temple. "Can you imagine?" he said, looking through my eyes. I couldn't. No non-American can. That's why we ask these questions. That's why we watch them fumble around this issue, year after year. Massacre after massacre. Although they were just his fingers, I'll never forget that. That fear. Imminent, inexplicable death.
Eric owned a gun. He saw it as a necessary part of his existence. He said he'd only change his ways if he knew of people not close to him who were getting hurt.
"So you knew all the children at Sandy Hook?" I asked.
With that, I never saw Eric again. He ran off, either for the bathroom or for a place where he could finally dissect his stance on one of the biggest social and political debates continuing in America. Even in Poland, with its violent history in a precarious position on the European continent, yet it becomes evermore peaceful and prosperous, Americas were still in their homeland, mentally, fighting a war that will never see a winner without the loss of more innocent lives.
Are you ready to die? Has there been a more prominent question asked yet?