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Jul. 15th, 2005

  • 2:49 PM
Calvin AUGH
I think I may be turning into a whackjob.

Today, on my way back to the office from lunch, I stopped in Starbucks for some green tea crack. As I was leaving, I noticed, on the sidewalk, a smallish cooler, top open, full to nearly oveflowing with rusty nails.

Huh, that's weird, says me. If someone was using that to carry the nails and put it down and forgot it, why's it open like that? The next thought I had was "wow, those nails would make for some nasty shrapnel." As soon as I thought that, you'd better bet I hoofed it away from there. Didn't really feel comfortable until there was a building between me and it.

After dithering for a few minutes when I got back to the office, I actually called the police. For a cooler, with some nails in it. The cop on the other end of the line sounded totally peeved about it - "what the hell is this lady calling us up for, asking us to clean up trash?"

But I just couldn't stop wondering how awful it would have been if it HAD been a bomb and people had gotten hurt.

(Yes, I know the odds of Quincy being a bomb target are about eleventy billion to one. That's what makes me think I'm teetering on the brink of whackjobiness.)
  • Mood: weird weird

Comments

( 23 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]semioticwarrior wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:14 pm (UTC)
Ok, but who would carry around *rusty* nails, and why? And why leave them in an open container in a public place? As much as I scoff at our newly-discovered terror paranoia, I think you did the right thing.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 08:57 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I scoff at it too. But where's the line between terror paranoia and being street smart?

I've never lived anywhere that had attacks as a matter of course, but I've known people who did, and they all talk about how quickly they learned to be on the lookout all the time for things that looked hinky.

But at the same time that is SO FAR outside the realm of my life, that it still feels like the load of crazy that it probably is. I dunno.

And rusty nails - most nails rust if they get wet at all, and it's been damp as hell here. If someone was cleaning up a site, then it's not entirely weird. But still damn strange.
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[info]enochs_fable wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:14 pm (UTC)
Normally, I'd say you were a whackjob.

But these aren't normal times. Probably nothing, but it doesn't hurt to call.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:22 pm (UTC)
Absolutely probably nothing. That's certainly what I have to tell myself, because the thought of there actually being something like a bomb outside my twice-a-day-like-a-junkie-habit Starbucks IS enough to make me never want to go out again. The difference between the abstract "it could happen here" and the reality.

But you know, the Quincy PD has a traffic cop essentially circling Quincy Center ALL DAY LONG. It's not like it would really be that big a job to have him take a walk by the particular block. I mean, the worst that happens there is that they miss giving out a couple of tickets, you know?

And I don't know, I'm normally such a rational level person, but there was something about this. It was weird.
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[info]enochs_fable wrote:
Jul. 16th, 2005 01:53 pm (UTC)
If there's anything I've learned in the past years, it's that I should give my feelings more credit than I often do.
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[info]dodging_fate wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:15 pm (UTC)
I think you were right on target there, Love.

*hugs*

I would have been scared, too.
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[info]rawrin wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:31 pm (UTC)
I guess the Quincy police don't share the MBTA's motto.

But that definitely falls into the "see something, say something" category, even if it's a goofy motto.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:05 pm (UTC)
Yeah, you know, I was thinking after the officer was short with me that if they're going to exhort people to report anything out of the ordinary, then they should train their personnel to be a little more polite to the people who DO bother to call.

even if it turns out to be nothing
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:23 pm (UTC)
And wow, I rarely ride the T, but those damn announcements are CRAZY annoying.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Jul. 16th, 2005 01:57 pm (UTC)
goofy -- but people remember it. that's what matters.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 17th, 2005 02:49 am (UTC)
Great, our tax dollars hard at work developing earworms.

So, who are you, Mr. Anonymous?
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[info]scirocco wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:46 pm (UTC)
I'm pretty sure all the other people who were on trains/streets/buses, etc with parcel/backpack/suicide bombs probably had a similar reaction. "Huh, that's odd. Oh well, probably nothing." Except it would be O SO APPROPRIATE if some idiot copy-cat nutjob decided to make something like this and set it down outside Starbucks because the clerks had ordered him outta the lobby or something like that. I think you made a good decision in exiting the scene and calling the cops. The Quincy cops' poor attitude notwithstanding, that's part of their DAMN JOB.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:39 pm (UTC)
You know, I could TOTALLY see some stupid twerpy high schooler who thinks he's hot shit rigging something that amateur up because LIKE, OMG, THAT CUTE CHICK IN STARBUCKS WON'T GO OUT WITH ME!!!11!!!1!!

And it's not like I "exited the scene". I just wanted to get back to the office and eat my damn lunch.
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[info]frozenrhino wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:47 pm (UTC)
The terrorists have won.
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[info]scirocco wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:57 pm (UTC)
No, if we all refuse to go outside and hide inside our bunkers, then the terrorists will have won. for now, common sense wins.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:10 pm (UTC)
Because I've given in to the lure of Starbuck's liquid crack?
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[info]liddle_oldman wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 07:48 pm (UTC)
Well, if you were at the Starbucks I'm thinking of, they are still working on the building. But rusty nails have been used as shrapnel. But I'd put them into something better than an open cooler.

Remember, though, that the government wants you afraid, so you don't look at them closely and you don't ask questions.
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[info]siercia wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 09:09 pm (UTC)
It likely is the very same Starbucks - right on Hancock. And yeah, I would use something more concealed if I were making shrapnel bombs, but you know, perhaps we're smarter than the average bears.

And don't worry. Although I don't talk much about politics around here, I am not generally afraid, and I sure as HELL don't trust our government to actually do anything effective to keep us safe.
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[info]liddle_oldman wrote:
Jul. 17th, 2005 06:26 pm (UTC)
Hmmm. I'm not thinking about concealment -- I was thinking about bursting strength. That is, if you put your shrapnel bomb into a casing, you get much better velocity from the shrapnel than if you just set off the explosive under a pile of nails.

But your point is valid, too.

And if you were making a terrorist remark on America, what better place to bomb than a Fourbucks Coffee?
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[info]string_on_desk wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 11:31 pm (UTC)
It seems like the right thing to do to me. It's a sad testament to the times we live in, but you definitely had a good train of thought.
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[info]metalliman502 wrote:
Jul. 15th, 2005 11:35 pm (UTC)
you were born into whackjobiness
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[info]enochs_fable wrote:
Jul. 16th, 2005 01:48 am (UTC)
others have whackjobiness thrust upon them...
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[info]solcita wrote:
Jul. 16th, 2005 01:49 am (UTC)
Speaking as one of those who actually answers those 911 calls... believe me, you are nowhere near even approaching 'whackjob', compared to some of my regular callers. =)

I think you did the right thing. We always think it can never happen to us... so did those victims in London, I'm sure. Better safe than sorry.
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( 23 comments — Leave a comment )