On the moon we have evolved beyond the need for Homeland Security.

[squeequeg]

So apparently the Mooninites invaded Boston today.

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, this is a textbook example of overreaction. The devices in question were just light-up boards, they'd been there a while, and the image of Err (or Ignignokt) flipping people off should have been a clue. (Or maybe Boston police don't watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force.) It's also an example of how frightened we've become that a few things that were, in essence, toys can shut down substantial parts of a city. In hindsight, a lot of it does seem like people who were so gung-ho to stop the next Terrist Thret that they didn't check to see what they were looking at.

On the other hand, when I first heard the preliminary reports about devices being found under bridges and in T stations, I was scared. And after learning that it was just a marketing stunt, I feel ashamed of that fear. It's similar to how if a friend jumps out at me wearing a mask and I freak out -- even for a moment -- I'm still kind of pissed off afterward. Neither saying that it was meant as a joke nor pointing out that the mask wasn't even realistic helps with that feeling of angry humiliation.

Perhaps it's just my way of defending that first, visceral reaction, but I would still like to find the marketing exec who okayed this and slap him for a while. And then I'd like to slap whoever was panicky enough to turn the city upside down on account of this. And then I'd like to slap everyone who's had a part in helping our culture become so scared that we jump at shadows.

And no matter what else comes of it, Boston's reputation as a cold and humorless city has been cemented. Great.

I can't help wondering what Dr. Weird would make of this. No, wait, I can imagine. It would involve corn. I'd like to stop imagining it now, please.

Comments

[laobscuridad.livejournal.com]

Except that these signs were placed in nine other cities (including Los Angeles, which is definitely worried about terrorism), and Boston is the only one that flipped out.
Which makes me wonder what sort of communication error happened along the way here....

[stealthmuffin.livejournal.com]

Maybe we just noticed first. Or we have a higher proportion of concerned grandmas.

[wdalphin.livejournal.com]

I sure as hell hope we didn't notice first. It took us two weeks just to notice the deadly lightbrites, how long would it take us to notice something that someone was actually trying to hide???

[laobscuridad.livejournal.com]

Yeah...*that's* the part that scares me.

[wdalphin.livejournal.com]

It may very well be that the problem here was simply location. Not location as in Boston versus Chicago or New York, but location as in that in Boston they were stuck under bridges and in T stations, and apparently not lit up, while in New York and Chicago and everywhere else they were hung in proper locations and turned on so that they looked more like what they were. I'm not saying I know that for a fact, but that may very well be the case.

[stealthmuffin.livejournal.com]

If that's the case, it explains a lot. Blinky shiny things that are out in the open seem a little less worrying than blinky shiny things under bridges. Or maybe I'm just still paranoid.

[thomascantor.livejournal.com]

Other police departments reported that there weren't as many of the things placed on bridges or near rail hubs in their cities. I also feel somewhat the way this columnist does vis a vis Boston getting egg on its face, as well as the arrest of the shmoes who threw the first egg, as it were.

Also, everyone loves to make fun of Tom Menino, but his temperament for flaring up in this situation (with lots of bark, he's our very own attack dog!) doesn't seem atypical for a local politician who identifies better with less trendy demographics (so, doesn't watch Adult Swim).