Kill all the Old People...

So I had this class (thank god it's over as of today) full of ignorant freshmen that I have wanted to kill all semester. Today one of the dumbasses crossed my line.
Before class starts is always when the worst conversations occur. Usually I ignore them and read. Today, I couldn't help but to overhear one because everyone was yelling across the room. One boy said, "I think that when people get old enough to not walk at a normal pace, they should die. Like when I am at the diner, and an old person is in front of me with a cane walking slow, they should be shot." And he was dead serious.
What an ignorant, nasty asshole. I told him that too. I asked him if he had any grandparents. He told me one grandmother. I asked if she couldn't walk anymore would he wish her dead? He said yes. This is the type of person who says things like this because he thinks it makes him look "cool" and "hardcore". So of course everyone in the class laughed as he said this. Except me. I went off. I told him that if he got to that point and wanted to die, good for him, commit suicide, he wouldn't be hurting the rest of the world by leaving it. And I told him that heaven forbid his mother or someone get into a car accident and is wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. Does that mean she should die?
People who cannot walk normally have just as much right to live as anyone else. They are doing the bets that they can to live a life that is a bit rougher than most people's. Kudos to them! You know, I don't know where he would be in such a hurry to get off to from the diner, but the fact that he can't wait for two seconds while someone who has lived much longer than him and probably done a hell of a lot more in their life that was worthwhile than he ever will, walks out first. He is a mean, and nasty person.

I think what made me even more mad than his dumb comments though, was the reaction of those around us. As I was attacking him for what he said, about half the class was laughing, while the other half was nodding. And the nodding people were mumbling arguments under their breath. UNDER THEIR BREATH! For example, the girl next to me quietly said, "I worked in a Hospice, and it was the best experience of my life. I have a lot of respect for older people." This same girl also said, "What about people with disabilities? People with MS can't walk."
But all of these comments went unheard. No one would stick up to this guy with me, even if they agreed. It made me so sad and upset that no one would have the guts to defend their own opinion against someone who was offending more than half of a classroom full of people.
What have we come to that people cannot and will not stick up for what they believe in? So many things happen that people disagree with, and yet no one will take a stand. Even I, the only one to say anything to this kid, do the same thing sometimes. Sometimes it's laziness, sometimes I don't feel like I have a say, sometimes I feel like it's worthless. But you know, sometimes, all it takes is a few people with a voice to change something. Even if it's just rebuking something as small as this in a classroom. But most people cannot even do that.
I feel crappy that most of the time I can't even do it. It really opened my eyes today though, to stand up for something that I just felt in my heart was so mean spirited. It made me look deeper into myself...and for once, I think I began to like what I was seeing.