Prior to 9/11, terrorism to most Americans was something that happened in faraway countries where for centuries there has been conflict among peoples living in the same or neighboring lands.  "Risk" and "emergency preparedness," from a suburban Chicago perspective, meant practicing the "duck and cover" at school in anticipation of bad weather.  This involved sitting on your knees, body bent over, covering your head with your arms and smelling the sour cafeteria floor, all the while giggling with your friends while teachers hovered around insisting on silence.  At home it meant Mom and Dad waking my sisters and I when the weather radio warned of a tornado, and spending the night in the basement "slumber party" style.  Growing up with this, it was something we got used to and when the drill happened, for real or not, no one panicked.

On a business trip to Los Angeles a few years ago, I was startled when my hotel room started shaking.  It only lasted a few seconds, but my adrenaline was pumping: earthquakes were not something I was familiar with.  In talking to a Los Angeles-raised friend the next day, he said he was not scared of earthquakes, but tornadoes terrified him.  Growing up with a disaster risk makes the risk less frightening.  This was something I hadn't really thought of till then.

On 7 February 2003, the government raised the newly created national threat level from "yellow" to "orange."  My nine-month pregnant neighbor called me to see what I was doing to prepare for the terrorist threat and to seek advice on what her family should do.  She knows I work for the government and was hoping I could provide her with some answers that the media hadn't made clear on how to prepare for an unknown type of terrorist attack.  Her phone call made me think about the children of today and what they are being conditioned to deal with.  At first I was saddened by the thought of the new threat that many of them will never know what it was like to live without.  However, as my friends and family dealt with tornado warnings and learned to live with them, so will today's children learn to live with and tolerate this threat more so than many adults will be able to adapt to this new source of fear in America.  

I welcomed the recent mid-February snowstorm in the D.C. area--the familiarity of being snowed in, shoveling and playing in the snow brought back many happy memories of dealing with this same type of "emergency" growing up near Chicago.  My neighbors and I got on a regular schedule and were out shoveling together throughout the day, making the task more fun.  I found my anxiety level from the previous week drop significantly as I dealt with this current "crises" that was so familiar to me.  As I climbed into bed after a day in the snow, I looked out my window at the winter wonderland before me.  Illumined by a spotlight across the street, a neighbor's American flag was flying.  Against the white snowy background, the Stars and Stripes glowed proudly.  

President Bush, speaking of the terrorism risk, recently stated that "many of these dangers are unfamiliar and unsettling.  Yet the best way to fight these dangers is to anticipate them and act against them with focus and determination."   Preparing for the unknown can be a daunting task, but going on with life and learning to live with this new fear is a start in winning our own personal war on the risk of terrorism.  As my neighbor's flag continues to hold firm, so will my resolve to believe in my country and adapt to this changing American paradigm.