Friday, September 11, 2009

It's Not Over

We’ve learned how to manage the inconvenience. First, have the driver’s license and boarding pass at your fingertips to pass quickly through the first airport security checkpoint. Second, wear slip-on shoes (with clean non-holey socks) and a pair of pants with large belt loops; it takes only a few seconds to toss the shoes, belt, wallet, keys, and cell-phone into the first plastic bin and the laptop computer into the second. Don’t wear a nice watch, rings, or other metal; they will just slow you down. Showing off your bling isn’t worth the hassle.

The paralyzing fear is gone. It’s been a long time since the color of the Homeland Security alert was flashed on the six o’clock news. And yet…I still notice and wonder about unattended packages in public spaces. I give young men with a Middle Eastern appearance a second glance and quickly avert my eyes when they look back.

For me trust has vanished—no, I don’t have an overwhelmingly negative, everyone-is-evil outlook—it’s more along the lines of always locking my car door or regularly running a PC virus checker. We may never again sleep the sleep of the blessedly secure. The bad people who want to kill us are still out there, and the war isn’t over. © 2009 Stephen Yuen

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