Asked by some of the talking heads after last weeks London Bombings. Well, I will and do. And sometimes I wonder if that makes me wierd.
I am not afraid step on a train, or get in an airplane or get on a bus. I wasn’t last week either. On Sept 11, class was dismissed early and I was given the reason “For our safety” I got a couple wierd looks when I pointed out that terrorists are not going to fly jetliners into the college(because there are much bigger targets). Even that day I wasn’t worried about being killed by terrorists.
And since then, I’m still more worried about getting my car stolen, getting mugged or getting in a traffic accident then being blown up by a terrorist.
Same here. About the only time it crosses my mind is when Caltrans flashes that stupid sign on the Bay Bridge about searching trucks. It really ruins one of the most scenic drives in the Bay Area.
I’ve never felt unsafe, and I refuse to give in to the supreme egotism that my life in any way involves a target of interest to terrorists. The only exception might be public transportation, but since I’m far, far more likely to bite it crossing the street, again it’s just not something that even crosses my horizon.
If the terrorists want to kill me, they’ll have to get in line behind 40,000 retarded real estate salespeople driving around my fair city with cell phones glued to their ears.
I don’t feel unsafe, but I’m definitely more aware of my surroundings. An example is when my husband, son and I were on a train in Sydney a couple months ago. There was a backpack sitting there with nobody near it. We asked around to see if it was anyone’s and nobody claimed it, so when we got off, my husband mentioned it to the security guy. Four years ago, I wouldn’t have even noticed the thing sitting there. If I had, I probably would have picked it up and turned it in to lost and found, which I’m sure is where it ended up. Now, I’m just aware that not everything is as it seems. I’m not fearful. I haven’t changed my routines. I’m just aware.
I do sometimes wonder why they don’t just cut off the bottom two. Since they’re never going to go to Blue or Green Alert(except on American Dad), why have them there? Just make it a “Yellow, Orange, Red”.
The idyllic allure of actually making use of Blue or Green justify the fact that it is currently Yellow (Orange on public transit).
Last week I took a second of pause to have the thought cross my mind, “I didn’t get blown up on my train today, better than some Londoners can say…Dang it’s wretched I even think that.” But I get on the DC Metro day after day, immersed in a book or music. I go into two or three prime-target government buildings every day. And I just don’t care. If they were to hit anywhere, there’s a better-than-meteor-or-terrorist-attack-in-Kentucky chance it’d be where I am. But I couldn’t do much to prevent these psychos any more than I can prevent muggers or today’s 97 degree heat index. If it happens, it happens, and I’m either dead or have a great survival story. Screw worrying.
In other words, it has invaded my mind, I hate that it has done so, but I don’t really feel any less safe than I ever had before.
When it gets to the point that once a week an office building or a major public conveyance in my city goes down to the terrorists, I’ll probably start giving it as much worry-attention as I currently devote to the current government, which is by far my present worry.