At the end of each day, we turned on the TV in our hotel room and watched the latest news on the search for those responsible for the tragedy in Boston.
I grew up in the fifties and sixties. Life wasn't exactly Leave It to Beaver and Happy Days, but it was certainly different. You could travel by air without taking off your shoes, coat, sweater, etc.and standing in a full body scanner. Friends and family seeing you off or coming to meet you could come right to the gate area, which were filled with goodbyes and hellos.
You could visit a national landmark then without placing your bags, coat, and the contents of your pockets in a plastic bin before a man ran a metal detector wand all around you.
No more. This weekend our bags were even examined at the door of St. Patrick's Cathedral. And, of course, there was close to airport level security at the 9/11 Memorial - where most of this began.
 |
| 9/11 Memorial |
Is all this security necessary? I suppose so. Every effort must be made to keep people safe. We saw that last week in Boston.
Can it keep us safe? Not completely. We saw that in Boston, too.
I read today that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told authorities he and his brother were planning to go to New York from Boston, to set off multiple bombs in Times Square.
Our hotel was in Times Square.
Frightening? Yes, a little. But more than that - incredibly sad.
Would you care to share a thought on all this?
Sad thoughts aside, I hope you have a lovely weekend. I promise a more upbeat post on Monday.
Good Thought for Today:
