I never really understood the term "clockwatcher" until this week. I've been temping at a bank, doing what's called "stacking files." I'm taking mortgage files and taking everything out and putting it back in the correct order. I keep it consistent with a series of slipsheets with headings and check boxes on them. Asleep yet?
At work today my two co-workers were talking about the terrorists that the British apprehended. One of them is afraid to fly. The other one wants to know why the airlines couldn't anticipate this threat and ban liquids sooner. Then the first one said that she doesn't know why Homeland Security can't keep us secure.
I'll tell you why. Hindsight only works one way. I can't express very well at the moment how I feel about all the panic, but here's a passage from The Liquid World by William Saletan at Slate.
"That's the bottom line: We die. In a liquid world, you can't seal off evil. All you can do is fight liquid with liquid. You have to absorb the tragedy, flowing around and through it. You need the strength of a river, not a rock. You need resilience. You can't be untouchable, but you can be undefeated."
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3 comments:
Apropos, WRT the liquid thing, some wag on the Daily Show snarked, "You know, 75% of the human body is made of liquid; every one of us is a potential bomb!"
Pretty much captures the essence of the whole absurd frickin' scene. *sigh*
Welcome to the world of mortgage banking.
Oh, wait, I guess I got out of that world. whew.
I think we (press, government, citizens) spend too much time worrying about terrorism, when you consider the true risk. I saw a study about it recently, I'll see if I can find it again.
Eventually, they won't allow PEOPLE on the plane.
Good thing I have a webcam and VoIP.
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