Danger Will Robinson!!!

So a well-timed news alert (the height of rush hour) came out today letting us know that there is a terror threat against the NYC Subway system. Yeah. Great. Just what I needed to hear. I have to take the subway each day to and from work, and I happen to plod through the three most busiest stations in NY -- Grand Central, Times Square, and Penn Station. how lucky am I?????

Nick called me from Chicago to let me know about this latest bit o' information, and I could sense the concern in his voice. I left work at 6:00PM to make my 6:21PM train home, and he told me to call him as soon as I cleared the tunnel on the LIRR. I did, and he seemed a bit relieved but I could still sense he was nervous. When I got home he called again to say goodnight, and his nerves turned to sleepiness, and I suspect he's in dreamland now, hopefully at peace.

As soon as I heard this news, I began to get shaky. I started to think to myself, "I travel through the busiest train stations in the system -- the chances of something happening in them are rather high." I started looking at people suspiciously, hoping that the guy with the carry-on suitcase wasn't packing explosives. I made eye contact with everyone I could, hoping they'd engage me as well and give me the signal I needed to believe they weren't dodgy. If one of them had looked away suspiciously, I would've either tackled them or screamed like a girl. Probably the latter.

Last month when I began commuting back into NYC for work Nick and I had a conversation about the possibility that something along the same lines as September 11 or worse could happen again, and what we would do in the event that we couldn't communicate when we were separated. We devised an emergency plan, which helped ease some of my fears, but not the fear that something actually might happen.

As I got home, I thought about the latest news, and considered the possibility that it's bullshit. Some news outlets said the warning was uncorroborated while others claimed it's a specific threat. I then thought back to the oil prices dropping like a stone this week, with analysts claiming it will fall into the $50 range next week. Today's news will surely prevent that. What if this is a bullshit threat conceived by our ever so caring administration, helping their oil cronies continue to line their pockets while keeping the fear factor high to rally support for their failed war in Iraq? Seems like it to me.

I don't know. I don't have inside information, nor do I claim to know if the threat is credible or not. All I do know is, I'm tired of living in fear. Why do people have to hate so much?