I just got back from Manhattan, where I went for the first time
since the incidents on Tuesday.
The air is still full of smoke and dust. Lots of people in the
streets, which is the opposite of here in Queens, where the streets
are deserted.
Down at 14th Street, the current barrier beyond which one is not
allowed to pass, there were many people standing about talking to
each other and the police about what's happening down below. There
were also endless police cars, sirens, ambulances, and work trucks
running by.
I went into a bar on 7th Avenue and 18th Street where a lot of
people
were gathered watching the news. I had a beer and talked to a
nice-looking guy on the stool next to me. He said that unwittingly
harboring terrorists was the price we pay for being an open country
that welcomes foreigners. I guess he was right about that. He also
told me that his brother, who lives in Dallas, called him and said
that some people there were hunting down Arabs and killing them. I
found that hard to believe, but he assured me it was true.
Everyone's very on edge here. There are upwards of four thousand
people dead beneath that massive destruction in the financial
district, and it's hard to deal with. This is a shattering
experience for most Americans, who have never known what it's like
to be attacked. Hopefully it will be a growing and learning
experience for them, but I fear that the majority will just thirst
for revenge and a continuation of the vicious circle of violence.
Frankly, I'm just as disturbed by it, psychologically and
emotionally, as everyone else, especially after my foray to lower
Manhattan this evening. It's hard to assimilate. This city, my city,
where I was born and whose streets I wandered as a child, has, in
effect, been attacked and partially destroyed. As a journalist in
South America, I witnessed destruction, but seeing it happen on
someone else's turf is very different from having it occur on one's
own.
It's supposed to rain tonight, which must have the rescue workers in
a fit. I just heard thunder...at least I hope that's what it was. It
must be scaring the wits out of people.
This affair isn't over. Aside from the chance that other terrorists
will be encouraged to repeat it, there is a very good chance that
there's going to be a debacle when the markets open or shortly
thereafter. I got hold of my broker TD Waterhouse this afternoon,
and the prognosis was not favorable. They, as well as many other
brokerages, have lost part of their installations. On top of this,
many of the telephone lines are knocked out, including my own long
distance and 800 service, as well as the stock exchange's phone
lines, which are run by Verizon, as are my own. I called verizon,
and they have no idea, none whasoever, when service will be
restored. Their main switch building is under three feet of water,
and the rain now is going to make it even worse.
No, this isn't over yet, I'm afraid. And now it's pouring cats and
dogs. It must be hell downtown.
Michael
