Terrified
by Caroline Hellman

The recent Tube and bus bombings in London have been a real wake-up call for New Yorkers on a number of levels. In one sense people here are starting to realize that we, the western world that is, are not immune from such attacks. At the same time, until it happens in New York, people also like to ignore that horrible reality. So yes, the terrorism in London was a wake-up call, but it shouldn't have been. Since at least 9/11 we should have had better security on subways and trains and really, all mass transit. But until we have bomb detectors or at least bomb sniffing dogs at every subway entrance--something pretty hard to achieve--not much will help the situation.

How does this pertain to asthma? After the second failed attacks in London, on July 21st, news reports read that only one person had to be medically treated: for an asthma attack. And in this way the terrorism is not just about the visual, literal violence, the bombs or planes or whatever evil Satanic godless maneuver they wish to perpetrate. It's also about the resounding reactions--the people who will no longer take the subway, thereby damaging the economy; the people who will always be emotionally distraught after dealing with such trauma; and the people who have asthma attacks and have to be rushed off to the hospital.