The Orange Life - In

The Orange Life - In the past week, various government figures suggested that people start taking simple, prudent measures to protect themselves and their families from potential terrorist attack.

The response has been depressing.

A couple of friends of mine, otherwise intelligent people, have responded with some of the same clinkers I'm reading and hearing elsewhere.

Can you imagine anyone saying:

• "The blizzard has won! Stocking up on candles and food just shows people are afraid!"
• "I'm not going to give in! I'll be damned if I get in a ditch or basement if I see a tornado!"
• "Who comes up with this stuff? Like candles and snickers barsare going to keep you alive if you're stranded in a blizzard?"
• "I'd rather die happy than lock my doors"
• "If I have to look both ways before crossing the street, is life really worth living?"

Sometimes my fellow citizens depress me.

And yet now that the government has followed Israel's lead in telling people how to build "safe rooms" in their houses to give the short window of protection against chemical weapons and biological aerosols, suddenly everyone is:

a) An expert on what chemical weapons can and can't do, and

b) A fatalist.

These are people, of course, who two years ago would have needed three tries to spell "VX Gas" correctly. They don't know what chemical weapons are, how they work, what their properties are...but they sure know that a "safe room" won't work.

Posted by Mitch at February 15, 2003 11:37 AM