Fear

Who ever saw Bowling for Columbine from Michael Moore got a feeling of how the American media is instilling fear on viewers by the news they are presenting and how it is presented. I don't want to go into the debate if this is done on purpose (Frightened people are more likely to support the country's defense policies? Fear makes citizens gun- and pharmaceutical consumers??) or if this is just how journalism developed in the US.
Moving to the USA we immediately noticed how different the news broadcasts are from the Dutch broadcasts, in the news selection and in the presentation of it. Now we are in Britian we see a different version yet again.

Anyway, when Martin and I went out for a bite to eat in Rickmansworth, we ended up in the Caesar's Bar above the Italian restaurant La Perla. It turned out that every so often there are live perfomances from a variety of artists. Enjoying a Chianti and a tricolore dish, I noticed a lone dark bearded figure sitting in a corner. I said a silent prayer to Whoever is in charge up there to please let this not be a chosen night for a terrorist attack. I couldn't help but stare at him from time to time though. After a couple of musical performances, some okay, some less than okay, the bearded man was introduced as Scroobius Pip to do the spoken word of the night. Martin smiled at me and whispered "Good, I thought he was a suicide-bomber". The spoken word consisted of little poems and a letter from God to mankind, it was hilariously funny, and right on.

I try to be free-thinking, tolerant and all of that, but sometimes prejudices and fear get to me as well. It's like stepping on a plane after September 11, or on the tube after the bombings, you can't help yourself but look anxiously at your fellow travelers....
Events like these, and the drawn out news reports of them makes us watchful, if not fearful....It's to bad that the world has become this way.