The attacks in Brussels, like the attacks in Paris strike a chord the world over. As a commuter the subway attack in particular frightens me.
One of the several pet names for my hometown is City of Bridges. Most know at least two of the six major bridges, the George Washington, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward I. Koch, Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. What most people don’t know or think about, including my fellow denizens, is that for all of those bridges that rise over the waterways, only a couple of them have trains. That means buried deep in the ground under those same waterways are the tunnels of the NYC subway lines. Thus my daily work commute involves crossing a river at two different points each morning and each evening. That’s four times a day a large body of water is above my head. And there but for the Grace, go I. As a person who does not know how to swim, I try very hard to not think about those times when my train is underwater. Thus why when I hear of attacks on subways, a part of me gets frightened.
Even if the terrorists strike on land, what is there to stop the tremors of the impact from travelling down the length of said tunnel and causing the crack. The small unseen, unassuming crack that becomes the leak, that becomes the gushing river suddenly filling the tunnel faster than my non-swimming legs can run for it. If you have seen the 90’s movie Daylight, with Sylvester Stallone, that is my not-so-secret-nightmare.
Luckily, my lifelong New Yorker status, and my ability to mentally block things I can do nothing about enables me to travel to and fro in peace without (much) of a worry for such things.
Then Brussels happens, so far away physically and yet so close today …
My thoughts go out to the 30+ confirmed deceased, the many more wounded and the countless now scared the globe over as countries debate whether to elevate security threat levels.
And for a moment my thoughts go to the train I need to take home this evening.
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Let’s go check out my fellow slicers:
Day 22 of the 9th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge!
Raivenne-lations 
Excellent. I thank you for thing of the people of Belgium and the world over today. This place is so far away, but not really. They are closer than we want to think about. Here’s wishing you a safe, peaceful daily commute.
I admit that I still get a bit nervous when we take a bus into NYC and are in the Lincoln Tunnel. Same for the train. Some things you just can’t think about or you would never leave the house.
My stepdaughter takes the Metro everyday…just like you, and has the same attitude as you. We must not let the terrorists control our actions and happiness. I can understand how such incidents make us take pause….but then we proceed.
May we all have a safe trip to and from our homes each and every day.