...and life goes on

Almost two weeks have passed since the bombing in Taksim Square. I went back to the scene, almost exactly a week after the attack and noticed something strange: life goes on. It was 9:45 in the morning and people were opening their shops, drinking their cay and generally going about their business as usual. I kept looking for that person who would be anxiously looking around, attempting to spot the next suicide bomber, but couldn't find him anywhere. This made me wonder, why do we get over such devastating events so quickly? Thirty two people were injured that morning of October 31, 2010 but it goes without saying that hundreds if not thousands of people's security was seriously threatened. So, how do we let mere days pass before we return to 'normal' status? Have we all become too jaded to let devastating events wear on our consciousnesses?

I lived in a small town called Edmond in Oklahoma when in 1995, Timothy McVeigh left a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. I was in the third grade that morning and my class was in the library when we heard the sonic boom. The fear on my peers' faces was compounded by the sheer uncertainty on the adults' faces. It didn't take long for us to find out what had happened and after then, it took even shorter for us to realize that this was a serious event. Schools and businesses were closed for days after the attack and years later, after my family had moved out of Edmond to another state entirely, I still remembered that feeling of fear and sadness I felt that morning.

Then Columbine happened. Then 911 happened. Then Virginia Tech. Now Taksim Square. I can't fail to acknowledge that as each event passes, it takes me less and less time to pick up the pieces and continue on with my life as usual. Perhaps as violence permeates the areas once considered 'safe' (a daycare in the Federal Building, a high school, an office building, a college classroom) I've begun to approach my life differently. If there are no 'safe' places in society any longer, what's the point of being surprised when bad things happen?

We have entered a new metaphysical modernity where acceptance is quickly merging with expectancy. There's just one question that begs to be answered: Is this a good thing?

Taksim Square on most days

Taksim Square October 31, 2010

Taksim Square October 31, 2010