Day 12 - Homeward Bound

I'm sitting at the railway station, got a ticket for my destination

Well, I don't actually, because there are no ticket machines at the Montauk end of the line. But the conductor sells me one, and we're on our way. It's 11:30am, and the start of the long trip home, about 35 hours worth, starting with a three hour train ride back to town.

****

The news today (last night) is that Osama bin Laden is dead. The TV channels are full of jubilant Americans; my Facebook feed is full of jubilant Americans and wary everyone else. A poll question at the end of the lead story on The Age website asks whether you believe the threat of terrorism has lessened since bin Laden's death, with 86% of respondents saying No (last time I looked), me among them.

When you declare a War on Terror, rather than something more tangible, like a country, you need a stand-in for the enemy. Osama bin Laden was, for many here, the anthropomorphisation of The Enemy. Ding dong the witch is dead/fifty bullets in [his] head.

But like the many-headed Hydra, cutting off one head will only cause a dozen more to sprout in its place. And will create a martyr of the head removed. While burying him at sea will prevent a shrine, a place of pilgrimage being created, it won't stop others from trying to emulate him.

As someone who is flying today, both across the country and across the Pacific, I do not feel this is a safer world than yesterday. And I selfishly hope that what retaliations come (for they will come) do not come in the next two days. Wishing us all "safe travel".


*****

At JFK, I find some lunch at a sit-down place: chimchurrones (?sp) which are chewy bits of pork, with a mustard aioli (?chipotle) and a bright green sauce of some sort (?pico gallo), with a basic salad - improved by squeezing the lime over it. I also order a side of creamy parmesan spinach, which is a 5" frying pan of sautéed spinach, in a somewhat creamy sauce, with some breadcrumbs over them - actually very good. With no sparkling wine by the glass, and being out of sangria, I didn't feel bad choosing tap water to go with my meal.

I spent a very frustrating hour or so trying to connect to the wifi (pay), but have finally done so. It's not cheap, but I understand my flight is delayed (I hope to God it gets to the hellhole that is LAX in time for me to make the Melb flight. I wanna go home!