Many of my friends are firefighters and they’re fed up with the lunatic fringe claiming that their mail is contaminated.
One of the less intelligent individuals brought her credit card bill to one of the local fire stations for testing because its return address was Trenton, NJ – a city 1,000 miles away.
Think about it. Some dippy little collect coed has had this credit card since first enrolling. The statements have ALWAYS had a Trenton, NJ postmark. But our little brainiac decides that SHE’S the target of terrorism so she bring her statement to the fire department, hands it to a fireman, and asks HIM to open it.
And to think the stupid bitch really expects a degree out of her stay here.
Not everyone evaluates risk with the left brain. I don’t blame folks for that but again I don’t have to deal with it as directly as you do. I work in a 20 story building in Phoenix Arizona. On the day of the attacks my mom was worried about me while I never gave it a thought.
Since the terrible events of September 11, most people have become aware that firefighters are everyday heroes. Perhaps the “little brainiac” just thought it was a way to meet cool dudes.
On the other hand, I live in Canada, which is definitely low-risk for anthrax, but there have been “suspicious envelopes or packages” scares every day around here. I for one felt slightly nervous when I received a small packet through the mail without a return address a little over a week ago. I had to psyche myself up to open it. After a minute’s hesitation and telling myself how silly and neurotic this was, I opened the package: 2 watches, one for ladies, one for men. I have no idea where they come from, I never ordered anything, there was nothing written in the packet. There was no white powder. Unless some terrorists have decided that the next step in destabilizing the population was through gift watches, I guess they can sit on my dresser till I get over how ugly they are, or till they explode.
I made my dad giggle (which is a rare occurance) the day before he left for Mexico last week.
He’s always concerned about my mental health because of my history with depression. Well, since 9-11 he has made more of an effort to stay in contact with me. I think he’s kind of surprised that I am actually dealing with this as well as I am.
Anyhow, what made him giggle was we were talking about the anthrax issues. I told him, “I am not afraid to get anthrax. I am a nobody, why the hell would anyone target ‘me.’ Being a nobody has its advantages.”
I think it made him giggle because I wasn’t taking the events and starting a life crisis of my own, which I have been known to do.
I am amazed at the level of fear people have when I am one that has a history of such unreasonable thinking. It’s sad that people that are normally pretty strong are letting the events cause them to lose half their brain cells. We live in a different world now. We have to adjust without becoming completely absorbed by it.
It’s like the car reference I hear frequently. We are more likely to die in a car accident than contract something like anthrax yet those of us that drive hardly think about it when we get behind the wheel of a car; it’s an accepted risk that goes with driving. It’s just a new threat we have to learn to deal with. It is highly, very highly unlikely that the average person will become sick with anthrax.
Oh and personally, I do think that the media has really made a circus out of this whole thing. I appreciate information but why, why, why talk about the hoaxes and blast the government for their actions or lack there of. This is new to us all. The government isn’t our protector and be all, it is there to assist us govern our citizens. The government is there to work along with us to resolve problems, they aren’t our nanny or babysitter.
Stupidity vs Anthrax? Stupidity is winning of course.
Interesting how many people suffer delusions of grandeur regarding their importance to alleged terrorist activity- the media, politicians, and yeah, you the average person in a small town, are all likely targets. Yep, it all adds up, first they attack the high profile people, then spike kids candy…
Sorry folks – when I wrote the OP I thought that I was posting to the pit. Something this serious belongs to be stated as a rant or a Great Debate.
But since it’s here – elfkin477 is right on with the statement that stupidity is winning. The other posters also seem to be right on the mark.
My rant was based on the fact that the local fire departments are now spending MUCH more time chasing bogus anthrax alerts than they are performing their otherwise day-to-day functions.
Around here our firefighters are our first line of defense. Their duties also include EMT and first response to home alarms. Since they are now spending up to 6 hours of a 24 hour shift chasing phantoms, I’m sure that they are much less responsive to real emergencies than they would be under more normal circumstances.
To date, 3 people have died of anthrax. Every day of our lives more people die of traffic accidents than the total number that have succumbed to anthrax. Yet it dominates the news.
I wonder how many people have died because emergency personell were so busy with false anthrax alarms that their response was not as timely as normal?