Code Orange Days

Well, the atmosphere in New York today is rather strained, in a very controlled way, if that makes any sense. It feels like the city is holding its breath. I don’t know what the vibe is in DC – but I imagine it is much the same.

It’s not a new sensation, living here, of course. But it’s not any less strained, just because it’s become familiar.

New York, ever since Guiliani anyway, has always had a visible police force. (Nothing as visible as CHiPs, perhaps, but visible.)

I know now, though, that the pre-September 11 visibility of the police force was NOTHING compared to what we live in now. Cops are everywhere. And I feel relieved by their presence, of course I do, but I also feel conscious of the closeness of disaster. They are a reminder of the threat.

Oh God. Just breathe, Sheila. Code Orange days suck.

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6 Responses to Code Orange Days

  1. chunae says:

    I live in DC, and it’s the same here.

  2. Bryan says:

    Shortly after 911 and the anthrax scare, I had to console many of my panicked friends by pointing out that one was vastly more likely to be killed in a car accident than in a terrorist attack. This thought continues to have a calming effect on me.

  3. red says:

    I’m not sure where you live, Bryan, but those calming words are extremely difficult to grapple with when you are in the middle of the insanity. When you watch, across the water, 3000 people die in the same instant, when those buildings went down. I mean … Jesus CHRIST. My sister was down there! She got out … but my God, it was close.

    The anthrax scare was particularly insane, where you would look up and watch big men in flowing white space suits walk by your building, like harbingers of doom.

    I try not to be panic, I do, but I am in the middle of it here. I knew everyone was going nuts about the anthrax, and the media made it worse – but still: there go Space-Men, in and out of every building …

    It was hard to say: “Okay … okay … the chances are very small …” When it literally looked like the apocalypse had come outside, if you know what I mean.

  4. Bryan says:

    Hi Sheila,

    I certainly understand what you are saying, and if I were in your position I’m sure I would feel the same way. Nor do I mean to minimize the tragedy at all. It was just that I saw so many people afterwards incapacitated by fear, and I didn’t want them to be ruining their lives through being terrified of something that probably was not going to happen to them.

    That was all I intended by my remark. Unfortunately, my way of stating it amounted to putting my foot in my mouth, as usual.

  5. red says:

    Oh, I don’t feel you put your foot in your mouth or anything.

    The real issue seems to me is: to go on living and enjoying life – at the same time that you are under a huge threat. This is for ALL of us, I think. Everyone in this country. Not just people in New York or DC. We’re all in this together.

    It’s just funny sometimes – to be sitting on the subway platform, on your way to a party, or something normal, and you see National Guardsmen everywhere, holding huge rifles, standing at the foot of every stairway. And you notice things like: no more trash cans in the Path station, no more benches to sit on … nowhere where bombs/packages could be hidden. It’s in-your-face. An in-your-face reminder of the threat.

    Even though there’s a threat right now – I like the quotes in some of the articles I’ve read. People heading into work anyway, the spirit and the courage and also, maybe, the stubbornness. A refusal to be incapacitated by fear. It seems to be an act of will: “I will NOT BE RULED BY THIS. I won’t be ruled by September 11.” It is quite admirable.

  6. Bryan says:

    I totally agree. It is admirable. And courageous. And not at all easy under the circumstances.

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