If You See Someting, Say Something

The terror threat is heightened in New York City. It has been for a few months now. You can tell just by the police presence everywhere you go and down on the subways they are holding machine guns once again. I, of course, am always on guard. I look people up and down and stare at them till they get really, really uncomfortable. I secretly think that I am an undercover FBI agent while doing so. How are they to know that I’m not? I could be. No one would suspect it.

So the other day on my daily packed subway ride home on B train I gave the car my once over. There was an extra seat in the middle of two people so I squeezed my J-Lo bootie right in-between them. I read a “how to survive a terrorist attack in a subway” that there is a higher survival rate if you are sitting due to debris. So I sit any chance I get on crowded cars.

(Do we need to go back to the fact that I read articles and books on this matter? I can’t help it, I always want to be prepared. And I find them completely interesting.)

It was packed. More than usual. Must be the holiday season. I noticed a man, fitting the profile (sorry, but there is a profile to be aware of, not being racist just stating a fact). He was holding a backpack in front of him and looked nervous. He was shaking and sweating a bit and seemed to constantly be looking in the bag. It was like he was holding on to it for dear life. My heart began to race. Everything fit the list of what we are to look for. I turned to the woman sitting next to me and said, “You see that man?” She was already aware of him and told me that she was getting off at the next stop. The people standing by us heard us and pretty soon we all were either about to take action or get the heck off the train. Problem was, we were on the express train and the stops are less frequent. We had to wait and endure the train ride all the way from 34^th St stop to West 4^th St.

I decided that as soon as I get off the train I would run and find a NYPD and make them aware of the man while telling people to NOT get on the train. I didn’t want to run and scream frantically or other people would think I was the crazy one. So off the train and out of the subway I flew taking 2 stairs at a time in heels. When I go to the top of the stairs I looked behind me and noticed that the Terrorist was behind me. He was running just as fast as I was and still holding on to his bag for dear life. I waiting and let him pass me and then followed him. I followed him out of the turn stile and up to the street. I noticed 2 NYPD officers outside and walked over to them and right at that time the man sets his backpack/bomb down on the ground…..unzips it…….and…………..

Out ran a little puppy.

Yep, seriously. I over reacted once again. But hey, I was not the only one this time. I explained it to the cops, as they were wondering why I ran up to them out of breath. They laughed but said that I was a good New Yorker for reacting the way I did. Thanks cute NYPD dudes!

We have signs everywhere that say, “If you see Something, Say Something.” 65,000 New Yorkers last year followed those rules and reported suspicious actions. I think I single handedly reported 54,000 out of the 65k.