I regularly receive packages from online orders and don’t think twice about picking them up. That’s why the bombings in Austin, Texas are terrifying.
You know what makes the Austin package bombings so terrifying?
It could happen to any of us.
If you’re like me, you regularly get packages delivered to your doorstep. Eight in 10 Americans now shop online, according to a 2016 Pew Research poll, up from just 22% in 2000.
We’re conditioned to pick up these deliveries quickly. Don’t leave a package on the doorstep for too long, we’re told, because that’s a good way to get it stolen.
And we don’t necessarily look at who sent it or who it’s addressed to before we pick it up. If I get an unexpected package (which is often), I assume my husband must have ordered it. Or it’s something that shipped to us automatically from our subscribe-and-save list.
And now, the Austin bomber may be getting more brazen, not just leaving packages at doorsteps but also apparently along the side of the road. A fifth package exploded at a shipping facility.
Authorities say the bomb on the side of the road may have been triggered by a trip wire, which is even more terrifying. Because now we don’t even have to pick up a random package on our doorstep. Just getting near one could trigger an explosion.
That means we have to be even more vigilant while walking or biking, as if watching for traffic and scary people who might be following us isn’t enough. Now we have to look for strange packages and backpacks and back away slowly, as we would for a rattlesnake, any time we encounter anything that, until now, we would have assumed was just trash.
POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media
I know. Metro Phoenix, where I live, is a thousand miles removed from Austin. There mercifully haven’t been any copycat bombers in other cities. And, yes, it’s always a good idea to be aware of your surroundings, whether you’re on your front porch or away from home.
This just feels like a loss of innocence, like we’ve crossed a safety threshold from which we can’t return. It’s scary. And it hurts.
Joanna Allhands is an opinion columnist for AZ Central, where this article first appeared. Follow her on Twitter: @joannaallhands
