Told you I would be back!

I noticed on my AOL Welcome screen that the Orange Alert will most likely be downgraded. Such a pity - all that work people did wrapping their homes in plasitc was for nothing!

I'm not making light of the situation, I just have a hard time wrapping my brain around this whole fear factor. Why is our government going to such extremes to keep us in a constant state of paranoia? Sure, they gave is a more fancy phrase, "being ever vigiliant" is how they refer to it. They want us to be scared little children looking up to their elders for security and guidance.

I don't buy it. It's a plot. It's a vehicle with which they will attempt to ram their "big brother" tactics down our collective throats. They want us to be fearful, so we will not notice what they are really doing. Believe me, we have things to fear, but I am not referring to bin Laden or Saddam.

You wanna know what I am afraid of? Do you want to know what keeps me awake at night?

I'm afraid that out economy is going to sink further into the toilet and I am going to be out of a job.

I am afriad of the steel worker who, after losing his job because no one wants to bail out the steel industry, gets drunk, gets behind the wheel of the $30,000 SUV for which he can no longer afford the payments, and slams head on into me or someone I love.

I am afriad that one day our government, in an attempt to keep us "safe" is going to take away our freedoms. Think I'm exaggerating? Go to an airport wearing an underwire bra and with a carryon and see how quickly you are pulled aside. Or, better yet, go and pay your water bill and get questioned for fifteen minutes about why there was a nail file in your purse.

I am afraid of the ignorant morons who terrorize humans because they are different, and child predators that live down the street.

I fear acid rain, getting caught in a convenience store holdup and carjacking. I fear becoming homeless, CPS coming and taking my child because my floor wasn't mopped yesterday, and my dog getting into the antifreeze. Those are some of the things I fear. I do not need to worry about a madman thousands of miles away. There are plenty of things to fear in my own backyard.

So, you guys go ahead and worry about the Orange Alert and bin Laden and Saddam all you want. Stay up late at night and sweat over anthrax and bio chemicals. Me, I am going to try and block out the REAL threat to our life here in America as we know it: OURSELVES.

- posted by Kim @ 12:01 AM