Cassandra’s Blues

In the New York public-transportation system there’s an ad campaign that features the slogan “If you see something, say something!” Its motive is unabashedly conservative: it seeks to make the community sensitive, and responsive, to existential threats. The problem is that such threats can take familiar forms that are easy to overlook, especially in a trusting society.

If you see something, say something: words to live by, if you ask me. I don’t ride the transit system much these days, as I work from home and am away from the city much of the time, so I’m not on the lookout for abandoned backpacks and bulging burqas. But I do pay very close attention to the passing foreign and domestic charivari, and by now I know enough about the past to have a solid baseline for comparison with current trends — and so I see a lot of “somethings”.

In other words, I have the “sensitive” part covered pretty well. What’s harder to get right, apparently, is “responsive”. I have it on good authority — from friends, relatives, readers, correspondents, and commenters — that I am “dour”. This is not to say that I am cheerless — to the contrary, I’m a mighty funny guy, the life of the party, and I enjoy my life immensely — but apparently, when a subject such as politics, culture, foreign affairs, history, climate, race relations, guns, etc., comes up, the things I say seem a little gloomy — and, even worse, entirely out of step with the way I’m expected to be thinking about such things (to the extent that most people really want to think deeply about them at all).

It’s a bit of a pickle. Do you point out the ticking parcel under the railway seat, or that the motorman seems to be asleep, and is running the red signals? But everyone’s so enjoying the ride, merrily chatting away, and imagining all the fun that awaits at their destination. Do you really want to be the one who ruins that jolly mood? You can be sure that nobody’s going to thank you for it.

On the other hand, that parcel really is ticking rather loudly now. How can it be that the others don’t hear it?

Oh dear. One hardly knows what to do.

5 Comments

  1. One hardly knows what to do.

    Change seats.

    Posted October 4, 2015 at 12:39 pm | Permalink
  2. Whitewall says

    Malcolm, first of all you aren’t “dour”. Just yesterday it was posited that your consciousness could be replace with a nervous system…and you didn’t flinch or complain.

    See something, say something is easy. Do something is the final act. That’s hard. There may not be “others” on the way to act like those fellows on the train last month. By your training which you have mentioned, you would act. And not in a “dour” fashion.

    Posted October 4, 2015 at 12:58 pm | Permalink
  3. JK says

    Seems to be a site of repute – The Derb posts comments anyway.

    http://thosewhocansee.blogspot.com/2015/09/why-re-colonization-commonweal.html

    Posted October 4, 2015 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
  4. Whitewall says

    JK, you manage to discover some of the most interesting blog links!

    Posted October 4, 2015 at 2:45 pm | Permalink
  5. Musey says

    Malcolm, if you’re even a little bit Scottish you’re dour. It’s compulsory.

    My very good friend Doug, is Scottish, and dour. It’s not that he has no sense of humour because he is very quick witted and funny, it’s just something in his general demeanour which is a little curt. I’m used to it, and he makes me laugh every time we meet. Sometimes he is a little too sharp and people can take offence but I don’t mind at all, and neither does he.

    Posted October 5, 2015 at 12:15 am | Permalink

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