Rachel Wimberly

On Not Succumbing to Fear
July 5, 2007

Just more than a week ago, my husband and I (we’re very newly married) finalized our flights to Glasgow, Scotland, for our honeymoon. A few days later, the news broke that two cars filled with explosive material were discovered in London, both by strokes of luck. My husband has never been to Europe – I’ve lived in Scotland and France – so he watched the news with a twinge of anxiety and I felt obliged to say, “Don’t worry, nothing EVER happens in Scotland.”

The next morning we turned on CNN and there was an SUV, it too packed with destructive material, on fire after two terrorists tried to slam it into the front entrance of Glasgow’s international airport. Glasgow’s airport has one main terminal and right in back of the glass entrance where the incident occurred are ticket counters that are usually packed with travelers. Fortunately, the barriers in front of the terminal stopped the SUV from hurtling inside and inflicting mass casualties, and the only person injured was one of the terrorists. Again – a stroke of luck.

My husband’s twinge of anxiety increased ten-fold after the news in Glasgow, and while we haven’t even considered for a split-second canceling our honeymoon in Scotland, what seemed like an easy trip to Europe suddenly became something fear-inducing.

I travel a lot as an editor for Tradeshow Week, either to shows or industry meetings, so I have chosen to not give into fear about what might happen to me in transit on every trip, or the experience would be truly miserable. But it made me wonder: for people who maybe go to one tradeshow a year as part of their job, how many of them see terrorists’ activities on the news and say to themselves, “Forget it, I don’t need to go anywhere.”

Gordon Brown, the brand new prime minister of Britain, urged everyone to not succumb to the fear that is an understandable byproduct of terrorism. I, and my husband, have decided to heed his words and enjoy what we know is going to be an incredible honeymoon.

Posted by Rachel Wimberly on July 5, 2007 | Comments (0)