The Dagley Dagley Daily

By Janet Dagley Dagley
Covering the world from the waterfront in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

ISSN 1544-9114

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Fighting terror with business as usual

Greetings, rest of America, and welcome to the harsh reality of life in this modern world. And thanks for all the calls and e-mails of concern, particularly from those of you who only contact us when you're afraid you might never get the chance again. Extra-special greetings to those of you in places like Schadenfreude, Wyoming, a state that gets FOUR TIMES AS MUCH COUNTERTERRORISM FUNDING per capita as we do here in New Jersey.

Many of you asked us if life had changed much for us due to the recent terror alerts. No, not really. We've been on alert day in, day out for nearly three years now. We expect to stay on alert the rest of our lives, one way or another. So we've gotten on with those lives. Those of us who were in the targeted areas on that September morning, those of us who live and work in an area that is likely to be targeted again, those who already knew terrorism all too well before they even came to this country -- we do appreciate your concern, and the government's efforts to prevent any attack. We just don't quite understand how worrying CNN viewers in Iowa is going to have any effect on whether Washington gets attacked. So why sound the alarm, and keep on sounding it? I can hear my neighbor's car alarm, it can even keep me awake all night like terror warnings keep folks awake out in the heartland, but that doesn't mean I can do anything about it. I can understand why the news networks do it: the more worried people are, the more likely they are to watch them.

Did you think the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq had made us safer? If so, we hope you enjoyed that belief while you could.

When the news broke yesterday, I happened to be sitting in a legendary New Jersey diner that is itself a real-world example of how business as usual can make terrorism less likely. How so? A couple of years ago, when construction began on what was to become the tallest building in New Jersey, this diner was slated for demolition to make room for a wide, sweeping road leading dramatically up to the new landmark. The city issued a condemnation notice and offered the owner -- like most diner owners in these parts, a hardworking Greek immigrant -- $1.5 million in compensation. But the city didn't realize that the guy had two very smart, well-educated daughters: one a graduate of the London School of Economics, the other an attorney, both of them media-savvy as all get-out. And the city didn't realize that this guy would rather keep his apron on and keep working than retire a millionaire. Nor did Jersey City officials realize that hundreds would show up to protest, and thousands would sign petitions to save their beloved neighborhood diner. Once city officials did realize all that, they found another way to make room for the extra traffic, and the diner was left to continue business as usual. So today, thanks to one stubborn guy who wanted nothing more than to go to work every day and go home at night and relax, and thanks to thousands who wanted him to continue doing just that, the tallest building in New Jersey doesn't have a wide, sweeping street leading up to it. Today, I bet the owners of that building, and the people who work in it, are as glad about that as the guy who owns that diner. And so are the people who aren't spending this day moving concrete barriers into the middle of that wide, sweeping street. So in honor of that hardworking guy in the apron, let's all keep on keeping on with whatever our business as usual may be.

posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @6:33 PM

2.8.04