To those who dwell in medium and large cities: feeling nervous> (1 Viewer)

[Jack Briggs]

I think I've kept a pretty cool head ever since last month (and I lost my job shortly after September 11).
But in a world where sporadic cases of anthrax exposure are being reported, where an uncomfortable amount of the former Soviet Union's plutonium cannot be accounted for, and where there are so many persons who are willing to go to any length to die for a cause--well, it's all beginning to catch up with me.
Not to fan the flames of unease being felt in this country (and on this board), I must say that I'm feeling a little edgy here in the second-largest city of the US of A. SoCal is a ripe target--as is, overall, the richest state in the richest country. All those studios. All those architectural icons. All those people.
Thus, I can sympathize with anyone who, say, works high up the Sears Tower in Chicago. And I can feel Tom Brokaw's righteous (and justified) anger and indignation over what happened to his executive assistant.
Scary times.
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[Steve Enemark]

This anthrax business sure is creepy, but isn't worrying me. This mail-in system seems to be just an attempt at making everyone paranoid, not practical for killing large numbers of people.
On the other hand, something that DOES scare me is the possibility of a terrorist-funded atomic bomb on a small craft being sailed up the East River or Potamac River and destroying much of New York or Washington DC (or the city of your choice).
I remember countless science fiction stories where something like this happens, and the nation's capitol moves inland, like to Denver or someplace. Have I been reading too much Heinlein?
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[Jay Taylor]

It’s the nukes that worry me the most. The financial situation in the former Soviet Union is terrible and they are selling almost everything they can, including their space program. It’s almost inevitable that nuclear material or nuclear bombs will make its way into terrorist’s hands from that area.
After initial concerns about anthrax, I’m not too worried now. We lose almost 50,000 Americans a year due to automobile accidents, which comes to over a million deaths in 25 years. I believe there’s been only one American death due to anthrax in that time period. This makes driving a car about a million times more deadly than anthrax. At least so far...
Another concern is radioactive material being scattered by a non-nuclear device. This could make an area uninhabitable for a long time. Apparently we recently bombed an area in Afghanistan where terrorists had been experimenting with radioactive material as well as chemical/biological weapons.
Jay Taylor

 

[Rain]

I'm nervous, too. I figure that Vancouver is not the safest place to be should they try coming after US allies, such as Canada.
However, I'm not very worried about the whole antrax thing. From what we've seen so far, I rather suspect that whoever is mailing this stuff around isn't affiliated with the terrorists in Afganistan. Seems more like some copycat thing cashing in on the nervousness of the population. Not to mention that, since we are aware of it, early detection and treatment for anyone effected should be available.
As for the nuclear thing, well that's a worry too. But then it has always been there (at least since the technology was developed) and it hasn't happened yet. I'm hoping that even Bin Laden and Company are not so stupid as to try to open up that can of worms.
Best we can do for now, and I know you've all heard this before, is to try to live our lives to the fullest.
Here's to peace and better days ahead.
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[Oliver]

Did someone already ask why this is happening or do you believe the fairytales?
This reminds me a bit of the John F. Kennedy assassination and Oswald beeing the only bad guy.
Well, it did work once...

 

[Michael Reuben]

Aw, c'mon, Jack! Anyone who lives in Earthquake City -- sorry, I mean "Los Angeles" -- should already have a high tolerance for risk.
But seriously: Most people I talk to here in New York share the same attitude -- there's no way we'll let ourselves be scared off of living our lives. One interesting indicator is the way that audiences are returning to theaters both on and off Broadway. Attendance has picked up so much that they're talking about reopening one of the shows that closed in the immediate aftermath of September 11. And it's not tourists filling the theaters; it's locals.
Oliver, I'd love to ask what you meant by your post, but I have a feeling that you couldn't answer without violating HTF rules on political discussion. I'll say this much, though: I'm old enough to remember the Kennedy assassination, and the current situation bears no resemblance whatsoever.
M.

 

[Jason Merrick]

Apparently Jack, you are not alone.
As you already know, I am a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I cringed the other day when I heard President Bush broadcast to the nation to report anything suspicious... obviously he isn't the one taking the calls! Normal people would take that statement for what its worth and report seriously suspicious circumstances, however, the paranoid in our society, of which there are MANY MANY MANY MORE than you think, took that statement to mean they should establish an open line of communication with their local 911 operator and not hang up until every terrorist world-wide has been exterminated!
Moving on... I had a funny call the other day. This lady calls and says when she came out to leave for work that morning someone had thrown a white powdery substance all over her car. She didn't know what it was and didn't think too much of it, so she just washed it off with the hose and drove on in to work. Well at work, she sees that a lot of the powder is still stuck to the car and windshield and is now wondering what this stuff is. So, as any normal sane person would do, she rubs her finger in it and sniffs it!

Apparently, her olfactory detective was unable to help in identifying the substance, so she goes into her work, which just happens to be a hospital (!) and calls 911 from her office. She tells me she thinks maybe there is anthrax on her car, she thinks its anthrax because she sniffed it and it doesn't smell like eggs (?!). So I tell her to go back outside and wait by her car, but she doesn't want to leave the new girl in the office alone and oh, by the way, I work in a lab, I could probably just analyze a sample and then call you back... !!!
You get the idea... now multiply this scenario hundreds of times across the U.S....

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[SteveGon]

For once, I'm glad I live in a small town....though there is still a feeling of unease in the back of my mind...
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He thought on homeland, the big timber, the air thin and chill all the year long. Tulip poplars so big through the trunk they put you in mind of locomotives set on end. He thought of getting home and building him a cabin on Cold Mountain so high that not a soul but the nighthawks passing across the clouds in autumn could hear his sad cry. Of living a life so quiet he would not need ears. And if Ada would go with him, there might be the hope, so far off in the distance he did not even really see it, that in time his despair might be honed off to a point so fine and thin that it would be nearly the same as vanishing.
-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[Neil Joseph]

Sometimes I wonder if (and how many) nuclear weapons are currently targeted at the city in which I live.
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[Oliver]

@ Michael Reuben
Yes Michael, the HTF is not the place for political discursions, so I will leave keep it down. No matter of that, there is no way terror can be tolerated in any form, and what is going one now with those virus being spread over America is just infamy. And who knows who is going to be next? But perhaps we should rethink the situation and dig deeper. Because until know no one pointed out why we have this situation. And if you search without prejudice you will find. Regarding Kennedy/Oswald, the dig begann to late and even now those who know won't tell.

 

[Julie K]

There was a white powdery substance on my truck yesterday morning.
It was ash from the 5700+ acre brushfire that came way too close to my house. Now that got me edgy!
But for anthrax? Nope. Not worried. Whoever is spreading this is thankfully very inept. I could have minor worries about smallpox after learning that my immunization is probably no longer effective (they only last 20 years and no one has been immunized in 30 years). But if you were to ask me what gets me really nervous and scared, it's the flu. There will be a flu pandemic some year. The last one killed 20 million people. There will be another one. Forget exotic things like ebola, forget human-spread destruction, if you want to get really scared, look no further than the flu.
And I must admit I'm not too worried about small nukes. I remember the day of worrying about big nukes coming in massive waves. Small nukes just don't cut it

I find myself worrying far more about earthquakes. That's the thing that drives my preparedness efforts! If you have never been shaken out of bed by a medium size earthquake (6.8- Northridge quake) you just don't know what this planet can do! I just hope I'm retired and out of state before the true Big One hits.
I guess this rambling reflects my beliefs. I worry about natural disasters - flu, earthquakes, fires, but human made ones just make me mad. Really mad.
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[Chad Isaacs]

Already had the anthrax scare here in town a few years ago,im not gonna worry this time around.
What happened then was people would mail envlopes to schools etc. with a piece of paper inside and a small stain on the paper.THe paper would say somthing like..YOU ARE NOW CONTAMINATED.Well,of course the news was all over it and the letters were being opened daily at various places.THe news actually stopped reporting on this to prevent more copy cats.
THe stain on the paper,if I remember right it was coffee or tea.
The one and only thing I worry about now is that I will not be with my family if/when somthing crazy happens.My daughter is very much a daddys girl and is handicapped,if she were at school or someplace away from me im sure it would be much harder for her...and me
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[MikeM]

It's strange, maybe I'm being naive, but none of these recent anthrax attacks has scared me at all. None. Zippo. Nada.
If this was small pox or some other airborne agent, then yes, I'd be much more likely to be frightened. But Anthrax? Nope. First, in most cases you will have a warning sign of some sort (powdery substance, etc.) that you have been affected. Second, in its early stages, it's highly treatable.
Lastly, with one confirmed death due to Anthrax in the US over the last 20 years, statistically, I probably have a better chance of getting killed by a member of the band "Anthrax" than I do getting killed by the real thing.
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[Edited last by MikeM on October 14, 2001 at 09:03 AM]

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

I used to think that small towns (less than 250,000 in population) are less likely to be attacked, biochemically or otherwise. That all changed in the last 36 hours.
~Edwin
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[Michael Reuben]

But perhaps we should rethink the situation and dig deeper. Because until know no one pointed out why we have this situation.

Perhaps you have limited access to the American media. There have been dozens, probably hundreds, of columns, commentaries, articles attempting to explore and explain "why we have this situation". There are conflicting ideas and perspectives, and no doubt there are insights that can only emerge with time and distance from the events. But to suggest that no one is attempting to "dig deeper" is, with all due respect, naive.
This thread is about something more immediate: the day-to-day anxiety that is an inescapable part of life in the U.S. right now.
M.

 

[Michael*K]

Though I live in the suburbs, I work in downtown Chicago and I must admit I feel more comortable when I'm home. While the Anthrax cases are making waves (understandably) the delivery method the people employ is decidedly low-tech. I don't open mail from people or businesses I don't know. I do feel sorry however for the postal workers that must worry about carrying the mail around and the people that work for businesses that require all correspondence to be read. Still I'd be much more nervous if someone had found a way to aerosolize it or even worse, used some bacteria that is contagious, like smallpox.
When I'm downtown, I think more of someone driving up somewhere and just detonating a car bomb or something. In fact, I look around rather uneasily when I'm outside at all the parked cars and trucks and (I'm ashamed to say) who is behind the wheel of vehicles. I have a six block walk from my train station to the office and I'm relieved when I finally get in the door there. The same could be said for going home at night. I am much more vigilant about watching for things now. I spotted a backpack sitting by a newspaper box and asked about it. Turns out it was a homeless man's. And I try to push any bad thoughts from my mind when I'm outside. It's easier when I'm out with friends or co-workers because the chit-chat helps distract you from everything that is going on.
Also, I have a few friends that work at law firms in Sears Tower and I can tell you they are very much affected psychologically. Two of them are actively seeking other employment right now and each day is a stern test of their nerves. In addition to the government warnings, they must put up with the sick bastards that phone in hoaxes and such (Even on the day of the attacks, an *sshole made over ten hoax calls saying he's hijacked a plane and was going to crash it into the Tower. Luckily he's in custody.) One firm even had about 40 people turn in their resignations en masse. I don't know exactly how many left, but I do know some stayed behind when offered counselling and other benefits.
These are sad times, but something that I think we'll have to get used to for the forseeable future.
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--Mike
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[Richard Kim]

Lastly, with one confirmed death due to Anthrax in the US over the last 20 years, statistically, I probably have a better chance of getting killed by a member of the band "Anthrax" than I do getting killed by the real thing.

Actually, Anthrax the band is thinking of changing its name due to the recent events.
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[Mitty]

Here's the full text since when they update tomorrow the link won't work:

Thrash-metallers Anthrax are considering changing the name of their band after the recent biological warfare scares in America. The rockers, who recently appeared on the soundtrack of John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars, have become more than a little uncomfortable since the disease after which they are named has become the country's number one fear. Lead singer Scott Ian says, "It's as though it's 1937 and I'm a bandleader named Freddie Hitler. Maybe we should change the name now. A friend suggested Basket of Puppies." Ian, who came up with the name 20 years ago in a high school biology class, continues, "People keep coming up to me and saying, 'Hey, wouldn't it be funny if you got anthrax?' I'm like, 'Oh, that would be hilarious.'" He's even stocked up on Cipro, the antidote for the germ, and adds, "I will not die an ironic death."

Sorry, I know it's not funny, but I laughed out loud when I read, "I will not die an ironic death."
Back on topic, I find that only in occasional and brief blasts am I able to actually get these threats to register with my psyche. I'm still going through "Wow, that actually happened!" moments with respect to the WTC attack, where the realization hits me like a blast of cold air. It's still too surreal for me; maybe it always will be.
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[Brian W. Ralston]

Jack,

SoCal is a ripe target--as is, overall, the richest state in the richest country. All those studios. All those architectural icons. All those people

I was thinking the same thing and discussing this with a good friend of mine whose father is a F-16 pilot, General and commander of a national guard base. His father layed out a pretty convincing argument as to why SoCal is not really a good terrorist target. A big part of it is because the area is so spread out. The bigger east coast cities are not only closer to our country's leadership....but they have soooooo many people living in such a small square milage. L.A. is very spread out and any terrorist act that would happen here would not affect as many people as it would in a city that was more densely populated. Look how the L.A. people work as well. It is not like New York where people go into office buildings from 8am-6pm. People here work and make deals on the golf course.....in their cars on cell phones......at lunch in Sunset Blvd......etc....There are some target which are a possibility like LAX or the studios because they would, psychologically have an affect on the whole US (...imagine if a studio were unable to broadcast normal programming due to damage from an attack....everyone in the US would notice). So there is still a risk.
As a terrorist, you would want to make a strong impression with every hideous act, so for the most part, you would do it in a place very different than SoCal.
This....plus some more arguments made my feelings on SoCal being a target much more at ease. Of course....I am still immensly worried about what will be next......you know it has to come sometime.
Anyway.....
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Regards,
Brian W. Ralston
"Success is a journey, not a destination." - Unknown

 

[MikeAlletto]

I got too many other problems in my life to worry about nukes and biological/chemical weapons that I can't do anything about. I'll let those that are trained and are sworn to protect me worry about those things.
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Michael Alletto
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