Saturday nights' attempted terrorist attack in New York's Times Sqaure, brought me right back to the day of 9-11. Once again my home is front and center of the discussion about national security, terrorism and possible connections to Islamic radicalism. Could it be that almost ten years later, New York could be no safer than before. I guess the fact that it was an "attempted" attack should count for something, but with last Christmas' attack also looming in my mind, I feel like this is just a game of Russian roulette. And New York has no choice but to play. All politics aside, my reaction comes down to a very unavoidable fear. Unavoidable not in the sense that its innate, but in the sense that no one is offering me an alternative way to feel. Pundits have no answers, neither do law enforcement or politicians. The fact is that either you feel fear and push incidents like this so far in the back of your mind, that you can continue to think about the "normal" things. But its a catch 22, because people say that if you feel fear, then you let "them" win. But if you dont feel fear than you've missed the point and there's nothing to worry about.
What my fear tells me is that there is a threat in the world that is out of my control to stop or to solve. So what is there to do? New York is my home and it is to millions of others as well. So how am I to feel? I go home in a couple of weeks by a bus that drops me off directly in the middle of Times Square. Normally I hang around to enjoy the noise and the smells. This time I think I'll just hurry home.
