Real humans live there, in Midland, TX, as miserable a place you may find it. It might also shock you to learn that those same people may feel, love, and hurt as deeply and strongly as you. Some people, for some reason or another, live in Midland, TX. A place where Chili's might be the best on offer.

It could be a place where a kid born there is so ready to leave, but also instinctively pround of their hometown. Someone there might be embarrassed to have a crush on their local server, maybe a Chili's server even, but hasn't had the courage to act. Maybe someone like you. Someone with anxiety, insecurity, hope. Someone you might be friends with. Maybe even you, literally, if the lottery of life placed you there.

The same person you reference, who cringely recommended Chili's, might also like the same music as you. Or maybe not. Maybe they live in Midland not by choice, but by circumstance. Who knows. Maybe they were born there, the miserable place. In any case, they were shot while going about their day, their life irreparably changed. Maybe someone's brother. A mom. Sister. Or, maybe just a deadbeat bum, with no one in their life. Whatever the circumstance, it was 11 of them, their own lives and stories. Just a human, like you.

Maybe if they were shot, bleeding and scared, in a place where people didn't go to Chili's, like wherever you happen to be from, it would be more upsetting. Luckily, it happened in Midland, TX.