In the wake of the most recent mass shooting – this time, in a Florida school – many commentators are noting, sadly, that tragedies like this have become the “new normal.”
I disagree – tragedies like this have become “all too common“, but I reject the notion that this is “normal“, whether new or old.
“Common” means that the event happens frequently.
“Normal“, on the other hand, means that the event achieves an acceptable standard – a norm.
The mass shootings we read about, hear about, talk about happen frequently enough to be common, but they certainly do not achieve any standard of acceptability.
This is not normal.
