The Frenzy of the Freaked

I stand corrected.

The lead suspect for the attempted Times Square was not a member of the Mohawk County Tea Party society, but a naturalized American from Pakistan. The Jihad Live from New York has tourists and native New Yorkers nervous about the next assault on the Big Apple.

This afternoon the NYPD cleared Times Square after several passers-by reported a 'suspicious' package on 47th Street. The HazMat squad later determined that the plastic cooler was filled with water bottles, probably left behind after officers arrested an illegal street vendor. I work two blocks east of the incident. None of my fellow workers in the Diamond District expressed any concern about the threat of death. We were too deep in debt to flee any danger, reminiscent of the cinematic complacency of the blase restaurant diners in Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL.

The main character survived a terrorist attack and his mother is more concerned with her food. The terror had been downgraded to a bother. I never felt the fears. Not even upon seeing the second jetliner strike the southern World Trade Tower. Horror for the loss of life and amazement at the audacity of these attackers, but never fear.

My fellow Americans are more susceptible to hitting the panic button. A gallery owner related a report of a bombing attempt on a bus in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The bus driver of a Greyhound braked his vehicle on the highway and abandoned his passengers after suspecting black man speaking a foreign language might be Al-Quada. Swat teams surrounded the stalled bus and after a long stand-off discovered that the 'terrorist' was from Burundi. The object in question was not a bomb but his lunch. The SWAT teams arrest two other men for obstructing officers and resisting arrest after exiting from the bus. The Burundi man was released without charges and continued onto his destination. The bus driver apologized to the passengers and the bus arrived in Boston seven hours later than scheduled.

The land of the freaked.