The glass half deadly

I began to fondle my mail in secret to see if it was lopsided or squishy. After reading warnings from the federal government, every envelope with handwritten names and no return address was cause for alarm, conditions that apply to about half the letters that come to editors. (We have a fanatical-people letter file, and half those folks seem to be challenged by computers.)

I remember a federal-government alert that ordered me to be suspicious of any package delivered with protruding wires, aluminum foil or suspicious sounds. Yes sir.

But, as the war on terrorism launched on other fronts, the anthrax fear level went down (from orange to green?), and my mail became my friend again. By the time we had put preventative measures in place, the anthrax terror seemed to have dissipated. (I still wonder what happened to the anthrax terrorists. Have they gone underground, died or left the country?)

The anthrax possibility did terrorize the country, and certainly, the fear was well-founded for a period of time. How can we know if we overreacted or underreacted, given the great unknown of terrorism, which can happen anywhere at any time?

Marc Keyser of Elk Grove carries around a lot more fear about the safety of our water supply than do most people. (See “Terror-able water,” page 20.) He is making a career out of shouting out warnings about possible terrorism and is crying wolf to anyone who will listen.

Is he going too far, or not far enough?