Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Time to act normal?

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

I AM UP to here in plastic wrap.

The Las Vegas Sun's award-winning cartoonist, Mike Smith, said in one picture what I will take almost 1,000 words to convey in this space. In Thursday's USA Today, Mike drew a picture of a man sitting comfortably in his easy chair reading a newspaper. The headline read: "Terror Alert."

The rest of the house was a bit more intense. His wife had duct-taped plastic wrap over the windows, acquired ample supplies of water and canned goods and basically followed the survival manual for terrorist attacks. She said: "We've got canned goods, water, batteries, flashlights and candles. We've also sealed the windows with plastic sheeting and duct tape. What do we do now?"

To that, her husband replied, "Act normal."

The irony of that little scene is that for Americans, any plan to survive much more than a fender-bender is still alien to our thought processes. We know we have hurt. We know the horror of seeing that which we thought inviolate, violated. And we have witnessed the impossibility of an attack on our soil actually happen.

But this latest talk about how to survive a terrorist attack -- one government officials are saying is inevitable -- in our own back yards is still having trouble settling in. My wife's response was to buy plastic sheets and duct tape, plenty of water and enough canned goods for us and dog food for Stella to last a week or so should that be necessary. We are ready.

Or are we?

While Myra was shopping for the home, I have been trying to understand the nature of a particular attack on Las Vegas and how to respond. What about our businesses? Do we send everyone home? Doesn't a newspaper have to keep working during times of crises? So how do we make sure our people are protected while they do their jobs? How much plastic do you need to bunkerize this three-story building we occupy? What if people would rather be with their families? Who can blame them?

The questions don't stop. The answers remain elusive because information we need to formulate them has not been forthcoming from the people in whom such information reposes. Our government.

With one notable exception, it has been the media delivering the messages about duct tape and plastic. The Homeland Security folks are MIA. Sheriff Bill Young, who is a local expert on homeland security, has at least taken a significant step toward informing locals by inserting emergency directions in Sprint's residential phone book. The guide begins after page 48 in the directory.

I guess I should have known that before but, alas, I don't read the phone book often. In fact, I can't remember the last time I even used a phone book. But the information is good and useful.

But what about all the people who aren't at home if and when the shoe drops? What about people at work, at play or just out who can't get home to their plasticized windows? Where do they go? What do they do?

Many of the answers, of course, have a lot to do with the type of terrorist activity -- whether a nuclear bomb, a biological attack or a chemical event. Each has its own set of issues with which we must deal.

And, dare I even mention it, what about the tourists? I am not certain that a large, gleaming hotel representing the best of Western decadence is the safest place to hide with al-Qaida on the loose. How do we provide for their safety?

As you can see, the answers are few and the questions many. So while I appreciate what the sheriff has been able to provide us, I question how effective that all is if the big one really happens.

Will government provide large, insulated, food and water-stocked shelters for all the people caught out and about should an attack occur? It can't be that hard to prepare every school gymnasium to accept people stranded away from their homes or other means of shelter. And what about underground parking structures? They're pretty safe in times of unknown threats. Is there a governmental plan to take them over on a moment's notice for the public's safety?

And, if our government -- local or federal -- has these contingincies already covered, how come we don't know about them? If you listen to the news, it sure seems like President George W. Bush is getting ready to pull the trigger right quick, so that doesn't give us much time.

I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but if I don't then who will? And will it come too late?

The fact is that we have never had to even think about such things, and now it is time to do something to make sure we survive. And, as a man much smarter than I said recently, just hoping that we won't be attacked by these crazies is no plan at all.

So, unlike our friends in New York and Washington who alternate between fear and depression about what may come, we in Las Vegas can do what the cartoon guy told his wife.

We can "act normal." If that's possible anymore.