Is It Terrorism If We’re Not Terrified?

My spring trip to New York City happened last weekend; I spent as much time as I could manage with my family and friends. Cocktails at Grand Central Terminal, Chinese food down the street from the UN, hotel room just off Times Square, all set against a backdrop of CNN reports of suicide bombings in Riyadh and Casablanca...

September 11th weaves itself into conversations in New York, but conversations turn over, at some point, to more immediate or more joyful things. The time spent talking about terrorism is not about being terrified. It is more about wanting closure, justice, and completeness. None of my friends discuss ‘The New Normal’, or go to ‘Ground Zero’, and they do not seem particularly ‘jittery’. Instead, they observe that not a single sign on any street or subway that said "World Trade Center" has been taken down or changed. They notice that the fellows who once played steel drums in the 42nd Street station have been replaced by NYPD patrols with dogs. My friends and I feel angry and put upon, but not terrified. Not even close to terrified.

As our group of eight emerged from the excellent dinner at Jimmy Sung’s (a favorite of ours for their conversation-inducing round tables), we heard two young men shouting at each other on the street. They were a few feet from one another and a few feet from us, and for a beat or two we were concerned that something unpleasant was about to take place between them. But by the third beat we realized that these guys were simply trading friendly insults at the decibel level required on a Manhattan side street. We relaxed after a tense moment, and told our own jokes to one another. And it is to one another that we have turned, and will continue to turn: not cowed, not weakened, but observant and resolute.

Attack New Yorkers? Oh, bad, bad idea.