The Way We Live

We were shopping in the bookstore of MSU-Bozeman when an announcement came over a loud speaker:

"There's been an emergency reported in the building. Leave the building immediately."

Not what we usually do, but we set our purchases down and followed the lemming-like stream of students and others out of the building.

Saw the Chief check for smoke. I didn't smell any. And then it hit me.

The building being evacuated contained the bookstore, a branch bank and the student union. It was lunch time. I realized as the calm, quiet crowd poured through the double doors into the courtyard between buildings, a smart bad guy would get everyone out of the building and kill us all while we waited in the quad.

Where's the safest place to stand in a crowd?

I watched the Boston Marathon attack from fairly early on having been alerted via social media.

It wasn't the same, but still eerily similar to 911, when I tuned in in time to watch the second plane hit the Towers.

So, I watched CNN all day with their endless, pointless speculation and neverending reroll of the bomb footage.

And like everyone, I suspect, worried about what's next for our country.

Saw a post from a person glad to see a SWAT officer guarding a street corner with an automatic weapon. Is it too early to suggest accepting armed security as our new normal imperils us in another way?

Where's the safest place to stand in a crowd?

Twelve years later, I still feel moment of discomfort when I see a low-flying airliner. I've decided that will probably never go away.

How long will it take, I wonder, before I'm comfortable again with people en masse?

Where's the safest place to stand in a crowd?