Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

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April 2005                                                                            Volume 8 - Number 3

Perspectives...

Perceptions

By: Erika Kuhn

It is amazing to me how the world has changed even during my life. Growing up, my brother and I would play outside all day in the woods, at the pool, and all over the neighborhood. There were no cell phones for our parents to ‘check in’ to see where we were, or if we were ok. However, they believed we lived in a “safe” neighborhood and knew we’d be fine as long as we were together.

Today, things are much different. Parents always have to know where their kids are, and are constantly worried about their child being abducted, molested, or killed by strangers strolling by.

Honestly, it doesn’t feel like anyone is safe anymore. Especially with the threats of terrorism, people have consciously (and sometimes subconsciously) changed their daily activities to make themselves feel safer. Some people may alter vacation plans to travel by train as opposed to flying. Some people may drive to work instead of taking the metro. And some people may alter plans such as New Years Eve in Times Square due to the inherent risk of being in such a densely populated and targeted area.

When the October 2002 sniper attacks began in Washington DC, I was in Phoenix, AZ for business. I read about the attacks in the newspaper, and saw the events unfolding on the news. I remember thinking how scary it was that a sniper was aimlessly wandering in my home city looking for his next victim.

However, because I was on the other side of the country, I must have subconsciously not considered myself to be in direct danger, since did not really feel the true impact of the sniper’s actions. I only thought about the events when I read about it or saw it on the news; other than that, it was just another normal day.

It was 4 days into the shootings when I returned to DC, and I was not prepared for how I would feel once I arrived home. I stepped out of Regan National Airport, and immediately felt the sniper threat around me. It wasn’t even a conscious feeling, considering I hadn’t thought about the attacks since that morning’s newscast. But immediately, stepping out of the airport, I felt as if I was in direct danger.

Each time I had to leave the house, my heart began pounding as I quickly walked to my car, glancing around in every direction as if to say ‘I know you’re out there, and I see you.’ Oddly, once I was inside, I felt safe again. The worst times were when my gas tank was reaching ‘empty’ and I knew I had to head to the dreaded gas station, where most of the shootings occurred. Gas stations put up tarps over their pumps for customers to feel protected, but the heart-pounding, gut-wrenching feeling was still consuming us.

When I compare the feelings I had while away on business, to the feelings I had while in DC during the sniper attacks, it makes me think about the diminishing impact that events have on the nation/world. Although the news attempts to portray the disaster accurately to the rest of the world, it is often hard for us to relate to those individuals experiencing a major disaster, unless we have personally been affected by it. I believe we need to make a conscious effort to relate to individuals involved in major disasters around the world, such as the tsunami. The more we can imagine ourselves experiencing other people’s situations, the more the world will come together to support those in need.