Stuck In The Middle Yet Again.

White powder and suspicious packages had the center block (original building that stands between our east and west 12 floor towers) of the Bank of Canada closed for business yesterday. The package was left in the early morning hours directly in front of the doors entering the building. The men in green (Hazmat) were dispatched and the robot went to work attempting to decipher the contents of the package.

It turned out that the package was not a bomb but possibly a case of Bananas resulting in a great deal of lost time, traffic disruption and one hell of an expensive training session for all the emergency services personnel involved. But it did start some interesting conversations the idea of feeling safe or not.

This is similar to that of the abortion clinic package from a couple weeks ago. The interesting thing about the conversation these events spawn are the utter frustration people have with one another as one group states the other is to paranoid and the paranoid people are insulted and pissed off at those who are indifferent. This is common in these situations and many of those who stay and work and don’t leave seem to think that those who leave are a) taking advantage of the situation and just want the time off for free. Or b) they are being paranoid of something that is ‘probably’ nothing.

First thing about this is if I can get some time off with my bosses consent and I don’t have to use my time for it then wouldn’t anyone take that??? Who dosen’t want more time off? Don’t get me wrong I like to work and have a good work ethic but I do not live to work, I work so I can get the money I need to live and do the fun stuff I like while I am not at work.

The second thing is this, if someone does not feel comfortable in a situation it is their right to state so and remove themselves from the situation if they so desire. If given the opportunity don’t you think that those "paranoid" people in Oklahoma would have wanted the chance to say "I don’t feel comfortable and want to leave"? May they rest in peace.

The images (like the one above) of that horrible day are tattooed on all our minds as one of the most tragic forms of malicious attack we have seen. When these historic moments are in our mind and then we flash back to what many people felt here in the Bank yesterday, it puts things into perspective.

Now I am not saying that every time something happens people should run and hide and nor should they be blinded by fear mongering and propaganda. But at the same time when an individual feels uneasy and uncertain of the outcome of unknown motives of others they should not be ridiculed for it. I mean there was a suspicious package with white powder in the vicinity.

So this leaves me stuck in the middle as I was not paranoid or overly concerned yesterday but I will admit that I was not completely comfortable knowing that there was at least the possibility of a grave outcome. It is a fine line between thinking the ski is falling and being oblivious to the possibility of someone claiming a new target. Where do you stand?