Red Alert, Red Alert

The British has foiled a terrorist plot to bring down planes heading between the US and Britain. As a result, the terrorist alert level for airline travel is now at Red. I actually never thought we’d ever see the level raised to Red. My thinking was that the level would always be either Yellow or Orange. Anything below Yellow makes it seem like we are letting our guard down and anything above Orange would seem like we failed to stop an attack. I actually thought that the only way we’d see a Red alert is after an attack.

Coincidentally, my parents are on their way home from vacation today. They called my sister after the first leg of their flight. They had no delays, but they did have to remove all liquids and ointments from their carryon luggage. Hmm…all of the sudden, I feel a bit of anxiety about the next leg of their trip. We live in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area, so the threat of an attack is probably more prevalent than in other areas of the country. In a weird way, I’m happy that the level is at Red while my parents are traveling. I guess that also means I think that a) Red means something and b) I have faith that the government and airport security are doing their job to the fullest degree.