Pen-Elayne on the Web

The National Mood Swing

It's been awhile since I've noticed how people act when the country's on a war footing, particularly when the war has such relatively little support from the citizenry as this one and we're mired in a depression at the same time. The pre-war cut-with-a-knife tension doesn't seem to have dissipated outside of Wall Street (which always seems to have multiple wargasms as people in far-flung lands bleed to death because of our actions). Moreover, this is usually the time of year when people around here start shaking off their winter doldrums, believing that warmer weather is here at last and all the ferocious storms are behind us. Not happening this time, at least as far as I can see. People are self-absorbed to the point of unintentional rudeness, retreating into their cocoons with worried looks on their faces. Now, I'm kind of doing this cybernetically so I can dig it, but far too many are doing it spacially. And you can't do that in New York City, naw'mean? Place is just too crowded. We need to get more of a "we're in this together, we'll pull through, if we survived 9-11 we can deal with this" vibe going. Particularly on the "1" and "9" trains, okay? Serious now, fold your New York Times and get it out of my face, give the fat girl some room, 'preciate it.