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Consistency will lead to self-confidence
By Moryt Milo
I was bound and determined not to write another column relating to Sept. 11 and the ongoing events in Afghanistan, at least not this week. But it seems no matter what I do or where I go, I can't escape its hold, and believe me, I'm really trying.
Aside from reading and hearing about it continuously on the television or radio, what I do and how I do it still remains affected by Sept. 11, and I am beginning to resign myself to the fact that perhaps life has truly changed.
A small example was going to the San Francisco International Airport on a Saturday evening to pick up my parents, whom I hadn't seen in a year. In the days before Sept. 11 my thoughts were completely routine--check the time of arrival, jump in the car, head out to pick up my parents, and time it to so I'm there within minutes of arrival. But this trip to the airport had built-in uncertainties.
I had no idea if my car would be searched before I entered the garage or if I could park in the same section I've parked in for the last 10 years. Playing it safe, I left extra early.
When I reached the airport, I was driving one of only a handful of cars entering the airport. I know the talk is about big lines and big waits through airport checkpoints, but on this day the place looked like a ghost town.
As I reached the ticket machine at the parking garage, a fellow was standing there, so I immediately thought, "Here we go." Not the case. He smiled and actually helped pull the ticket out of the machine and handed it to me. I could have entered that parking lot with a trunk full of munitions, and no one would have known.
I looked back at my son, who had begged to come to the airport, and said, "Jeez, Philip, there is no one checking anything. Where's all the security we've been hearing about?"
Inside the parking garage there was one safeguard near the entrance to the elevators. The area was fenced off to keep parked cars a certain distance away, but I didn't have to walk far.
Parking was a breeze because, as my son said, "Mom, the place looks empty."
And empty it was. When we arrived at the American Airlines concourse, the airport looked like we were there at 2 a.m., not 5 p.m. The airport had put up barriers between concourses, restricting non-ticketed passengers from moving between them, but the line going through the security checkpoint was almost non existent.
Obviously, weekends are the best time to avoid lines and crowds. The main point of this example is that all the information being given out to the public about security is either being exaggerated or in a constant state of flux, which leaves all of us having no idea what to expect.
So herein lies the problem with trying to live normally. The powers-that-be keep saying we need to get out, dine, shop and travel, but at the same time we keep hearing about more possible attacks, biowarfare and other worrisome news.
I think we need to get this country on the same page. Right now the government is moving in one direction, while the rest of us are trying to figure out which way to go.
Does that mean we shouldn't be patriotic? No, I'm not saying that. Does it mean we should ignore what is being said? No, I'm not saying that either. What we each need to do is find a way to resurrect our own self-confidence.
A big way that our government can help our self-confidence along would be to create a more consistent national policy.
Don't tell us to spend money and in the same breath tell us to be wary where we spend it. Give us airports with the same security procedures, make sure our federal employees are properly protected, and coordinate action and information between federal and national agencies. Yes, I realize it's a huge request, but these are unprecedented times.
The very thing we are trying to achieve--normalcy--is how I wanted to feel driving home with my parents, not wondering whether I could have entered the airport with an arsenal of explosives.
Contact Moryt Milo via email at morytb@aol.com.
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Campbell, California
