# WTF? I don't believe the PSA I just saw! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868 "2009-01-12T03:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/61 "2009-01-12T15:22:05Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Hate speech? You can’t possibly be serious. It was a joke about the stupidity of Texans\*; last time I checked “stupid” wasn’t a protected class. > \*NB: Also meant in jest. If you can read this, this joke does not apply to you. There are plenty of smart Texans. Disclaimer void in Kentucky. No refunds. Believe it or not, I’m actually not ragging on you this time. 😃 Take another look. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/62 "2009-01-12T15:38:14Z")
Yeesh. You’re all acting like your from Auvergne or perhaps Pays-de-la-Loire. In any event, perhaps I was wrong to raise a personal mod squabble in an unrelated thread; I won’t do that again. However, it did give us all a chance to see who can evaluate the merits of an argument without letting personal issues get in the way (Liberal wins, everyone else loses). And QED got to show his asws some more, which is always a joy. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/63 "2009-01-12T15:59:08Z")
I anxiously await the follow-up PSAs encouraging parents to have a plan in case the Pied Piper of Hamelin shows up and leads all their kids into a cave. I mean, it will be equally useful. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/64 "2009-01-12T16:33:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How exactly do you plan for a terrorist plan attack with your kids? [Duck and Cover?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0K_LZDXp0I) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/65 "2009-01-12T16:52:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I anxiously await the follow-up PSAs encouraging parents to have a plan in case the Pied Piper of Hamelin shows up and leads all their kids into a cave. I mean, it will be equally useful. Having a disaster preparedness plan, whether it’s for a natural disaster like a flood or a hurricane, or for a man-made one like a terrorist attack, isn’t really a bad idea, even if, hopefully, you’ll never have to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/66 "2009-01-12T16:56:01Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Having a disaster preparedness plan, whether it’s for a natural disaster like a flood or a hurricane, or for a man-made one like a terrorist attack, isn’t really a bad idea, even if, hopefully, you’ll never have to use it. Planning for a flood or hurricane makes some sense. Planning for something as vague as “a terrorist attack” makes _no_ sense. What sort of attack? A hijacking? NBC attack? Bombing? Shooting spree? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/67 "2009-01-12T17:20:48Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Believe it or not, I’m actually not ragging on you this time. 😃 Take another look. Awwww, shit. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/68 "2009-01-12T17:21:20Z")
Well, there is a Paris, Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/69 "2009-01-12T17:57:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Planning for a flood or hurricane makes some sense. Planning for something as vague as “a terrorist attack” makes _no_ sense. What sort of attack? A hijacking? NBC attack? Bombing? Shooting spree? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick\_Rescorla](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rescorla) > [@](#): > > In 1992 Rescorla warned the Port Authority (owner of the World Trade Center) about the possibility of a truck bomb attack on the pillars in the basement parking garage, but was ignored. When Islamist terrorists used this method in the 1993 attack, Rescorla was instrumental in evacuating the building, and was the last man out. > > Rescorla recommended to his superiors at Morgan Stanley that the company leave Manhattan. Office space and labor costs were lower in New Jersey, and the firm’s employees and equipment would be safer in a proposed four-story building. However, this recommendation was not followed as the company’s lease at the World Trade Center did not terminate until 2006. At Rescorla’s insistence, all employees, including senior executives, then practiced emergency evacuations every three months. > > …At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck World Trade Center Tower 1. Rescorla, following his evacuation plans, ignored building officials’ advice to stay put and began the orderly evacuation of Morgan Stanley’s 2,700 employees on twenty floors of World Trade Center Tower 2, and 1,000 employees in WTC 5. Rescorla reminded everyone to “…be proud to be an American …everyone will be talking about you tomorrow”, and sang God Bless America and other military and Cornish songs over his bullhorn to help evacuees stay calm as they left the building, including an adaptation of the song Men of Harlech: > > ``` > Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming; > Can't you see their spearpoints gleaming? > See their warriors' pennants streaming > To this battlefield. > Men of Cornwall stand ye steady; > It cannot be ever said ye > for the battle were not ready; > Stand and never yield! > > ``` > > Rescorla had most of Morgan Stanley’s 2700 employees as well as people working on other floors of WTC 2 safely out of the buildings by the time United Airlines Flight 175 hit WTC 2 at 9:02 a.m. > > After having led many of his fellow employees to safety, Rescorla returned to the building to rescue others still inside. When one of his colleagues told him he too had to evacuate the World Trade Center, Rescorla replied, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out”. > > …He was last seen heading up the stairs of the tenth floor of the collapsing WTC 2. His remains were not recovered. As a result of Rescorla’s actions, all but 6 of Morgan Stanley’s 2700 WTC employees survived. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/70 "2009-01-12T18:01:57Z")
# That’s a heartwarming story, and an excellent cautionary tale, but most people don’t raise their kids inside high-rise office buildings. I suppose it makes sense to follow Rescorla’s plan if you live in a high-rise condo. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/71 "2009-01-12T18:08:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > # That’s a heartwarming story, and an excellent cautionary tale, but most people don’t raise their kids inside high-rise office buildings. I suppose it makes sense to follow Rescorla’s plan if you live in a high-rise condo. What it shows is that Rescorla was right and that you were wrong. And while it applies to this company, families would benefit from a little bit of foresight as well - especially if they live in an area at some risk from this sort of thing. As it stands, we have emergency supplies at home, these supplies are staged so that they can be loaded into our van in short order if needed, and we have arrranged a rendezvous point far outside of Washington so that we can meet up away from danger if something happens while I am working. This isn’t terribly hard to do, it isn’t overly paranoid and it applies to a wide array of emergencies we might have to face here. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/72 "2009-01-12T18:34:59Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Seriously, dude, report it if you want to, but announcing it like that makes you look like a junior mod at best, and a third-grade tattletale at worst. > > Or is it the other way around? 😕 Whichever it is, it’s against the rules, IIRC. Leniency is granted in certain instances, like when reporting a thread started by a blatant troll. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/73 "2009-01-12T19:21:32Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > This thread has been a public service announcement from the Texas Board of Tourism. > > **Texas: It’s America’s France!** I object to being linked with Texas in any way, shape or form. That’s hate speech. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/74 "2009-01-12T19:29:01Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > What it shows is that Rescorla was right and that you were wrong. And while it applies to this company, families would benefit from a little bit of foresight as well - especially if they live in an area at some risk from this sort of thing. I’m sorry- you appear to have mistaken me for a Port Authority official. I’m not. Although I did visit Manhattan once. In any case, having a plan for evacuating a (clearly) at-risk skyscraper and having a plan for a generic terrorist threat against a generic target are not _exactly_ the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/75 "2009-01-12T21:09:24Z")
I am fully prepared for a terrorist attack (or any other disaster/tragedy), and all I have is one item: a baseball bat. Can’t go looting without it! Well, you can, but then you end up cutting your arm on the broken Bloomingdale’s window. That’s not entirely true. I do have one other plan to prepare for a terrorist attack. It’s called “Don’t hang out in a building that’s being attacked by terrorists”. Other than that, I’m not really sure what the fuck I’m expected to do. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/76 "2009-01-12T21:30:00Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > They made me hate Macs even more. I just want to punch “Mac” in the throat so much. I just read PC(John Hodgeman)'s book and its pretty funny. He’s clearly more likable than Mac and thus I feel good about my PC-usage. I think I read somewhere that the Mac campaign ran into this problem in one of the countries it was run in (using different actors than in the American ads). People had a negative view of the guy playing Mac based on some other character he had portrayed. I don’t remember where though. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/77 "2009-01-12T22:09:42Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Planning for a flood or hurricane makes some sense. Planning for something as vague as “a terrorist attack” makes _no_ sense. What sort of attack? A hijacking? NBC attack? Bombing? Shooting spree? Any attack that would cause widespread chaos or disruption of services. It’s not that you can do much to stop or minimize the actual attack, just like there’s not much you can do to stop or minimize a hurricane. But, you can make sure you and your loved ones have a place to meet if you’re seperated. You can make sure you have food, potable water, and a generator, if your access to food, water, and electricity are cut off. None of these things are terrorist specific, of course, but having done those things will help provide you with security in the event of a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/78 "2009-01-12T22:16:26Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > But, you can make sure you and your loved ones have a place to meet if you’re seperated. You can make sure you have food, potable water, and a generator, if your access to food, water, and electricity are cut off. None of these things are terrorist specific, of course, but having done those things will help provide you with security in the event of a disaster. Sure, but what do disaster supplies have to do with preparing a terrorism “plan of attack” with your kids? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/79 "2009-01-12T22:24:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sure, but what do disaster supplies have to do with preparing a terrorism “plan of attack” with your kids? Nothing, it’s just the government pretending it’s doing stuff to make us feel safer. Again. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868/80 "2009-01-12T22:36:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sure, but what do disaster supplies have to do with preparing a terrorism “plan of attack” with your kids? Because in the event you and your kids are seperated and normal transportation and communication systems go down, it’s good to work out some place to meet or some way to communicate to each other that you’re all safe. That might mean saying, “In case you get lost, let’s meet at the oak tree at the park”, it might mean teaching them alternative ways to get home (“If the 9 bus isn’t running, you can take the 7 bus and then transfer to the crosstown 26”), it might even be so simple as making sure your kids know your office’s phone number and address as well as the numbers and addresses of other people they can go to or get in touch with in case something happens to you. (“This is how you get to Aunt Irene’s…”) These aren’t terrorist specific, but they’re general disaster/emergency readiness things you can do to help keep you and your kids safe. Remember, when something bad happens, people panic and don’t think clearly. By knowing what to do when there’s an emergency, you can save your life and the lives of the people you love. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-i-dont-believe-the-psa-i-just-saw/480868.md?page=5)