Holiday Mayhem in the Malls, Hype or Happening?

By now we all have heard about the threats against our malls all around the country during the holiday season. While I will be the first to admit, this is not a threat to be taken lightly I honestly am more concerned about the effects such a threat is having on the psyche of the population, than threats blowing in the wind, as it were.

There are many different ways to think about the latest threat. One is to reason that based upon past warnings, we have discovered that many of them are not viable and thus are routinely ignored and "just not happening". This may be well and good, but my thoughts turn to the twisted side of this argument. I reason (and without paranoia, but with rather a bit of devils advocate in place) that perhaps all the false threats were in fact designed as mere threats and planned from the first to fail for a reason. And that in failing, the failed threats were leading the populace to lower the fear threshold back to pre 9/11 days when we routinely felt "such a thing can't and won't happen here."

When you think about it, if the population has met that level again and we believe that the threats are baseless, what a more perfect time to hit our malls than that time where we are out most materialistic and greedy?

Another way to look at the situation is to consider that the root of the word terrorism is terror.Terror as defined in Wikipedia is: "a state of fear, an overwhelming sense of imminent danger."In my humble opinion that is exactly what is happening when announcements of this sort appear. The threats are actually the instruments of terror and while they are certainly not to be ignored, we also cannot let them overwhelm us to the point where they cause undo stress and anxiety, especially if they disrupt our day to day life.

Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not advocating burying our heads in the sand and saying "it can't happen to me in my little town" but what I am saying is to use common sense, keep your eyes open and be extra vigilant in your day to day life. Don't assume that because you live in a smaller area or one that is out of the way that you are automatically safe from harm. No area is 100% safe and to be extra careful is not onlywise but practical in this changing society of ours.

The way I see it, the only way to fight terrorism on a local level is to use your instincts, common sense and check your naiveté at the door. It does no one including yourself any good to panic and refuse to leave your home out of fear of attack or become so immune to threats that you take them less seriously as the days go on while nothing happens. Ignoring the problem or blowing it out of proportion are both destructive in their own ways.

While I do the lion's share of my shopping online, I also visit the mall on a regular basis and don't intend to stop doing so in the weeks ahead. Instead I will keep my eyes and ears open and will be more observant for changes and things that seem "out of place" more than ever before. And I also will trust that inner voice who may tell me "stay alert and be ready". For really when you think of it, short of carrying a concealed weapon or wearing a bulletproof vest under your LL Bean sweater, that is all any one of us can do.

Try to enjoy the holidays folks....and remember, if you allow someone to steal happiness from you, they have in fact won the battle, because in truth that is what was intended all along. To take happiness and replace it with fear is the main objective of the day for these people, and in my case, I don't know about you, but I refuse to let that happen!