NYC Explosion Narrowly (Thankfully) Averted
When people from Scranton refer to "the city," such as when they say, "I'm going to the city this weekend," or "I went to the city for dinner and a show," they usually are talking about New York City. New York is OUR city, the place we visit when we need a dose of art, culture, baseball or the incredible diversity only NYC can offer. No offense, Philadelphia - we love you, too, but New York holds a special place in many of our hearts.
When something bad happens in New York, it does not feel like it happened in a far away place. Rather, it feels like it happened in our own backyard. Maybe that is why news about the failed car bombing in Times Square this past weekend aroused such feelings of anger, anxiety and upset here at home. News of terrorist attacks anywhere shock and sadden us, but news of terrorism in NYC stops us in our tracks.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. I hope the police, FBI and other law enforcement piece together the evidence and find the responsible party quickly and without further incident. I wish no one from Scranton, NYC or anywhere else ever had to deal with situations like this. Unfortunately, in our world, people hurt other people all too often.
Getting hurt and recovering from injuries is always hard. Getting hurt and recovering from injuries because someone meant to hurt you, or even because they neglected to take common sense precautions to avoid doing so, is somehow harder.