Maybe Panic?

For the most part, nobody sent me "are you all right" messages after the Paris attack, since I am at least a 20 hour drive away, in another country, in a backwoods city most people outside of Italy don't know exists. (Backwoods is used advisably, since there are mountains with pinewoods, bears, and wolves that separate it from the rest of Italy.) This did not deter Ciro's mom, who is often guided more by feeling than logic, and although Ciro rolled his eyes I remembered a bit how I minimized my exposure to the Boston Marathon bombing because we were "nowhere near there" and then found out that actually Ciro and Scarlett had been right next to it, and then the Tsarnaevs fled to the town next to me. So my ability to evaluate "nowhere near there" is maybe compromised.

Still, I'm nowhere near there.

Yet I just received an e-mail from the State Department advising U.S. citizens in Italy to review the Worldwide Caution. (Summary, approximately: anywhere you are in the world, there could be terrorists trying to kill or kidnap you because we're at war. Please panic! But also this will do you no good! We just want everyone to be a bit scared so if something happens you can't say we didn't warn you.)

Thanks, guys. You're doing A-plus work.

(It is thrilling to get an e-mail from the State Department, even a mass e-mail that's stupid.)