On Monday, the 16th anniversary of 9/11, I boarded an airplane leaving Boston. I was aware of the date and left plenty of time to get through the gauntlet of security which I anticipated would be heightened that day. At the early morning hour I was traveling, the line wasn't long and it seemed there were plenty of TSA employees so I made it through the line with ease. The line that was longer and slower was Starbucks. So there I was, under caffeinated, when a man yelled out, demanding to know, "Who's is this?!?!" I peered around the line to see a red faced man pointing at a large rectangular box on a flat, four-wheeled dolly. The man, outraged, continued, "An unattended box on 9/11?! They say 'see something, say something'. And I'm saying something!" A Hispanic man scurried back to the cart while the other man raged on, "Oh! Are those yours?!?! Leaving a box attended on 9/11?! Dumb ass." I think that it was a box of plastic spoons. I get it, I guess. I don't think I could muster that much passion to mutter "dumb ass" before consuming my Starbucks (the say something guy promptly got in the Starbucks line after delivering that parting shot). I'm not trying to make light of it. I'm glad people see something and say something but I don't think "dumbass" was part of the say something. I guess I'm trying to be nicer to make up for the fact that lately people seem meaner to one another. Less tolerant. I'm looking for small signs of kindness and when I see them I feel relieved, like maybe, just maybe all civility is not lost. Maybe there's hope after all? Or maybe I'm a dumb ass for thinking that. I hope not.
