Do I feel safe?

Let me just put it this way, I do not understand how having BART police wander up and down the train, peering in the windows and doors while at a stop, is going to help me or anyone else feel safe. I also don't think having a BART employee wander through the trains is going to stop anyone from doing whatever they feel like doing.

I know they're looking for abandoned bags and backpacks, but come on – some people are seriously sick and would gladly give their life up for whatever nutty cause they believe in. And what about a bag stuffed under a seat so that no one can see if from a peering angle or by walking down an aisle?

I don't mean to be negative about what BART is trying to do to stop something from happening, but I seriously doubt it will. Perhaps just having the BART police presence is enough.

My husband found out about the London bombings after I did. I found out before I left work yesterday morning. When my favorite news anchors on Channel 2 told me to expect 10-minute delays if taking public transportation, I thought, Uh oh. When I saw how serious their faces were, I thought, UH OH. The next news segment was about London. I don't know what I thought then. Too many things to think about.

When I was at work, my husband called me and asked how I was. He sounded really concerned. I told him I was fine (nice to be asked every so often, isn't it?). He said that I must not have watched the news this morning. I said I did, and I saw what happened in London. He wanted to know if BART was doing anything different. I said they had more cops wandering around in the SF stations, but that's about it.

When he got home from work that night, he asked me if people were talking about what happened in London. On the BART train, that is. I just looked at him and said no. I thought to myself, is that weird that no one was talking about it? Do people on BART generally start conversations out of the blue? No. Why would this be any different? People on BART will talk to each other in two cases: 1. When something happens at that exact moment, and 2. When someone makes someone else mad. That's pretty much it. Haven't I said it's every person for themselves?

I think my husband was bothered that the BART riders weren't communing together to discuss how we'd kick some terrorist butt on BART. But who are we? Do we even pay attention to what's going on? And when we do, do we even do anything? (Read my very first blog post and you'll get your answer.)

So this morning, I paid attention when we got to SF (this was after almost not waking up on time...that hasn't happened in a long time). We were stopped at Embarcadero for a longer time than normal. There was a BART cop walking the length of the train opposite mine. He was peering away. Then a BART cop walked by the door of my car, so I guess that same thing was happening to our train. Then a yellow-vested BART employee walked into our car from the car behind ours. I'm assuming he walked the length of the train from back to front. I looked at the people around me as this was happening because people tend to get antsy when the train doesn't leave at the normal time.

It was kind of eerie. I wasn't the only one looking around. Everyone seemed to be looking around at each other. (That is, with the exception of Red Haired Guy, whom I haven't seen in a month, I think. He was in front of me (go figure – I told you he hates me) reading his newspaper.) So now are we all paranoid? Was that person looking at me a bit longer than they should have? Do I feel more safe?

No, not really. Although I do appreciate the thought.