The smoking Nissan Pathfinder parked near one of America's most symbolic terrorist targets was spotted because of the alertness and actions of some street vendors. Had the explosives inside the car detonated, New York City and America would have been successfully attacked and psychologically traumatized again.
Quick and appropriate responses to potential danger often make the difference between life and death. We are hard wired to recognize danger and address it or flee from it. This biology has helped us survive as a species for thousands of years. In cave dwelling days, it was easy to detect a dangerous enemy, but in our post 911 world, the face of the enemy is almost impossible to recognize. It could be a car, a plane, or a friendly looking person with a bomb strapped to him or her.
How do we, as good citizens, help keep one another safe, as did the street vendors in Times Square, without becoming hyper-vigilant and paranoid? We need to balance our sense of denial that "this can't happen to me," with being mindfully vigilant.
Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. Denial can provide us with a sense of emotional protection from events that are traumatizing or just make us uncomfortable. Denial can also place us in harm's way by "dumbing down" our intuition for recognizing potentially dangerous situations.
Have you ever been in a situation where you intuitively knew that you or others were in danger? You just had a gut reaction? That's your intuition speaking. Gavin DeBecker, the author of The Gift of Fear, sites what he calls "messengers of intuition" that alert us to danger. These cues, potential warnings that you could be in a bad situation, include the following:
- Nagging feelings
- Persistent thoughts
- Wonder
- Anxiety
- Curiosity
- Hunches
- Unanswered questions
- Doubt
- Hesitation
- Suspicion
- Fear
DeBecker points out that we should pay attention to these cues and keep our denial in check. This is difficult to do when we are under a lot of stress. Remaining in a mental state of high alertness for long periods of time continually activates our fight-flight chemicals, like adrenaline and cortisol, and eventually, they begin to take a toll on our bodies and minds. As a result, it becomes more difficult to remain alert and tune into our intuition signals. Therefore, it is important to find ways to live our lives fully, without being over vigilant and anxious. We should pay attention to our intuitive abilities to detect danger. Using "mindful alertness" can help us do that.
Mindfulness is a relaxed state of alertness. When you are mindful, you are in tune with your intuition and natural "body signals" and your perceptions are keen. It is easier to remain mindfully alert when living with the possiblity of a terrorist attack, when you know what to look for as signs of terrorist activity, and what you should do about it.
Many people are hesitant to report suspicious activity to the police. Do not hestitate. Many more crimes (including terrorism) could be prevented if more people would report unusual activity, like the street vendors did. Citizens are the U.S. government's most powerful tool to prevent terrorism. Many terrorist acts have been foiled because of reports made by ordinary citizens. Below are some types of activities that you should be alert for and consider reporting:
- A stranger or strange vehicle parked for a long period of time
- Someone looking into houses or cars
- An unusal amount of traffic coming to a house or apartment
- Houses or buildings where extreme security measures have been taken
- Houses or buildings where no owner or renter is apparent and no home activities are taking place.
- Strange odors or noises coming from houses or buildings
- Unexplained deaths of birds, pets, or other animals (could be a sign of biological or chemical agents)
- Persons who look like they are serving as lookouts
- Persons taking photographs or videos of unusual areas
- A van, truck, or car parked in an unusual place or near a place of importance
- A bag, briefcase or any other container that is left unattended
- A person wearing a police, fire, ambulance or security uniform who you know is not in that profession
Tune into your intuitive signals and if you feel you are in danger, there is a good chance that you are. Remember the new slogan, "If you see something, say something."
The New York State Office of Homeland Security has some other good advice for what citizens can do to help prevent terrorism.
