Scary Stuff

Although the sniper thing is obviously terrible, it is amazingly silly to me how it has "gripped the nation". I hear people in interviews from Wisconsin and Idaho talking about how they are now afraid to go outside. Give me break! I understand how people in DC and Virginia might be afraid, but for someone in Wisconsin? I would guess they have a much greater chance of being hit by a truck tomorrow than being shot by the sniper. But it all makes sense when I opened the Japan Times Friday to find a side-section about how to avoid sniper fire. It told people to walk erratically and in a zig zag motion. It told people to stay in the shadows. It told people to get behind their tire if there are gun shots near their car.

If the news is telling people how to avoid being hit by a sniper, I don't know who to blame for the crazy fears... the reporters (or their boss) or the people who read the stories and get carried away. Wouldn't it be better to have a section about looking both ways before crossing, wearing sun-screen to prevent cancer, not driving drunk, or using a condom?