On Thursday, November 12, my coworker commented “Tomorrow is Friday and November the 13th. Nothing good can come on that day!” She alluded to the Western superstition that “Friday the 13th” is an unlucky day but I told her how in Italian culture, we believe the number 13 is a lucky number. Friday did not turn out to be so fortunate for the world on this particular Friday the 13th, and it seems a little eerie that my coworker was right.
On Friday afternoon, I arrived in New York City on a long weekend trip with my boyfriend. Our bodies crashed to the bed after 5+ hours of travel and a long hike through Central Park. When we flipped on the TV, we saw the news in France about suicide bombers attacking the city. That seemed a little odd, and it was. I love France and I was pretty upset for the rest of the evening. I went all the way to the Big Apple so I didn’t want to let the attacks scare me. However, I did notice a LOT of police officers with big guns patrolling all of the tourist areas (so everywhere I went) such as Rockefeller Center and the next day, outside of the 9/11 Memorial. Even though this could have freaked me out, it made me feel safer knowing that NYPD was on high-alert, reading to protect the city from new kinds of threats.
While those series of attacks were terrible to say the least, they made me wonder why other attacks were not as highly publicized such as the attacks in Nigeria, Kenya, and Lebanon, to name a few. The answer my sound simple: France is our ally. However, I am not sure how satisfied I am with this. The attacks in Paris are an eye-opener for Westerners who view Paris as a fantasy land of sorts (baguettes, wine, free education, oui oui!..). However, when a country turns a blind eye to other world atrocities, this is how how discontent is created.
I am still in the process of forming my ideas on what the best course of action should be for our country with dealing with terrorists. What are your thoughts?
Petite Activist 