After reading Andrew Sullivan's Dish
After reading Andrew Sullivan's Dish today, I'm a bit puzzled. Not by him--by my own reaction to the same news. I think Andrew lives in or near D.C. I live in New York City, and I work about 300 yards from Ground Zero. I, too, saw the splashed headlines about the nuclear possibilities. But the news--which would have driven me from the city for at least a week, had it come out in October--barely registered.
I find that very odd.
But I think I understand it: I've already been through one catastrophe. I'm buying a house outside of the city, and I'm getting the hell out. I never really liked it here, anyway, and with technology being what it is these days, my work is mostly portable. I probably won't be able to leave for a couple of months, though. So I bide my time and go about my business, keeping my focus very narrowly on my goal: getting out. Although I feel guilty for saying it, I think my lack of reaction boils down to "Just wait until I'm gone, please." Because I was so close on 9/11 (and God knows there were thousands who were much closer), those splashed nuclear headlines seem to have my name on them. Right now I can't afford to indulge myself in panic, because I'm driven: get out. Get safe.
Every time I see some jackass mouthing the "I'm going about my business as usual, because if I don't the terrorists have won" line, I want to reach through the television and punch them in the head. The only way any of us here in New York can go about our business is by pretending that it won't happen again. Anything else would send us all raving into the streets.
But, like Andrew, I'm pretty sure that it will happen again. My irradiated corpse will neither give nor deny the terrorists victory. So off I go!
