Anxiety’s Willing Passenger
Do you ever wonder just what is going through people’s minds? What jollies can come from calling schools and nursing homes with a bomb threat? It is certain that whatever person or group is responsible for these threats, they are trying to hit us where we live and terrify our children and elderly- the two most vulnerable groups of our society. Next it will be hospitals, if it isn’t already.
Sure, this isn’t the first time that bomb threats have been made to our schools, but usually they can be attributed to some student that doesn’t want to take a test or wants out of class. But, that is not the case with these threats. My question is simply are they designed to be nuisance in nature or is there some larger plan at work? Though at face value it appears, because of the number of threats and the fact that, to date, nothing has happened, to be just a plan to annoy, it is sure that if it were simply a childish prank authorities would have identified the source of the calls by now. But that hasn’t happened. Granted, this could still be a prank. There are certainly students that are skilled in technology. But it is the sheer number of threats that has me raising an eyebrow. The more threats, the more opportunity to trace who is making the threats. And yet, they have been coming in mass, since school began in August, to various parts of the state.
TEMA has met with local emergency coordinators regarding the threats and they are each to be assessed on individual merit. In other words, childish writing on a bathroom wall might be assessed differently than an adult voice issuing the threat. And a live voice might be different than a computer generated voice and multiple threats across the state might be assessed differently than a single threat to one school or nursing home or government office. I understand that you cannot let some silly, sick game of let’s scare the children or elderly have control of our schools, nursing homes and daily lives. But I just can’t help wondering if there is a more nefarious purpose at hand. Maybe I just watch too many movies or write too many stories about the darker side of humanity, but it makes me a little jittery to think that the determination for what precautions are being taken is up to the interpretation of someone who may have no expertise in bomb threats.
I am not saying that I have the answers. I am just saying that I am uncomfortable in underestimating the ultimate goal of a person or persons that would expend the type of energy that it takes to launch and sustain a large scale attempt to scare society. Apparently a fear of being caught doesn’t fact in and rather than backing down when the heat is on, whoever is behind these threats appears, at the least, undisturbed. Most people simply don’t have the stamina to pull off an extended string of threats. Even the threats in 2012, which were widespread in nature, didn’t have the longevity that have been exhibited in these threats. I would deem these threats as calculated and I suppose that is what bothers me. When calculated combines with agenda, or even crazy, it can be a very bad day.
Maybe I am overrating. There have been many times in my life that I have hoped that my vivid imagination and propensity to looking for the shadows around the corner were clouding perspective. Sometime it is easy to let anxiety drive the train but I must admit that given the choice, I will be anxiety’s willing passenger instead of playing back seat driver to complacency.
