How many of you out there continue to go about living your daily lives without fear? Do you go to work and school not worrying a truck bomb explodes in front of your place of business or that a bomb threat by an anonymous caller will force an evacuation of the entire campus whether real or not?
Do you still go out shopping not worrying about the slowing economy, the rise in unemployment or if the company you work for will lay off people?
What about opening your mail? Are you worried the next envelope you receive will contain some mysterious white powder that could be anthrax?
Have you canceled your travel plans for fear the jet you board might get hijacked and be the next plane slamming into a local mall or the capitol? And if you do fly, do you glance at all the other passengers looking to see if any of them fit the profile of the nineteen hijackers who took over the jets on Sept. 11?
Do you worry just because curbside baggage check-ins are eliminated at major airports does not mean someone could still sneak a bomb onboard?
Do you wonder as you drive down the interstate near farmland if the crop-dusting plane flying above you is unleashing some deadly biochemical weapon that could wipe out everyone in a matter of days or months?
Have you or any member of your family gone out and purchased gas masks or bought boxwoods of bottled water, peanut butter, canned foods, and dozens of batteries for flashlights in anticipation of the next possible terrorist attack?
If so, then congratulations! The terrorists have won. You are doing exactly what Osama bin Laden wants to see; Americans here and abroad running around in fear of their lives.
There is quote or a saying that fits the overall general attitude of how most Americans feel today since Sept. 11. The saying came from a heavy metal rock band. I heard a comment from a classmate back when I was in grade school.
The saying was “Paranoia self destroya” or in plain clear English, “paranoia self-destroy you.”
We have always faced with the possibility of death every day before the events of Sept. 11. There is always a chance we may not come home either because we met the Grim Reaper through a case of road rage or a car accident. People meet death in a variety of ways. None of them are pretty. Yet we rarely ever give it a second thought.
That is until five weeks ago at 8:47 a.m. when our way of life was irreversibly changed forever, and we no longer feel safe. Now we are worried about when the next attack will come and in what form.
The sad fact is terrorism came home in February 1993 when terrorists tried to bring down the World Trade Center the first time. Other than bringing the conspirators to justice, nothing much was done to keep the incident from happening again. Such is the reason America is being called “the Sleeping Giant.” It must take an even larger unthinkable catastrophe for us to start thinking about safety precautions at home.
The result is we are not as free as we used to. America is well on its way to becoming a police state. Now we are like every other country in the world that has armed guards at airports. Now we must show up two hours before kickoff time to see a Dallas Cowboys football game just so we can be cleared by security.
Movie theaters like the AMC Glenlakes in Dallas post warning notices on the front doors saying you will be searched if you bring in carry-on items.
And do not be surprised with the holidays coming up to find more police officers or security guards at local malls.
It may be a whole new world we are living in now but that does not mean I am going to personally adjust my life and worry much less prepare for a possible biochemical attack. I do not even have a game plan set up on what to do if a tornado ever comes roaring through the Mesquite area and I am not about to start now.
I see no point in attempting to prevent something that will be beyond my control. The only thing I can do is worry about my health, eating right and exercising and making sure I have enough money saved just in case, God forbid, I do not have a job one day and need cash to fall back on until I get something else.
I have no doubt there are people out there though (I suppose some of them could actually be reading this column) who have no doubt spent thousands of dollars on gas masks and environmental protective suits for their entire family (there is probably even one out there for their dog or cat) and have a year’s supply of the drug Cipro, should anyone come down with anthrax.
Those people are all laughing at me saying how stupid I am and how sorry I will be for not jumping on the paranoid preventative bandwagon.
I am not going to alter my lifestyle just because a large band of murderous, bloodthirsty thugs who hate freedom want to instill fear in everyone.
What is the point of living if you are going to go around fearing what might happen to you the minute you walk out that door?
©10/24/01
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