Sunday, August 06, 2006
HOW I PREPARED FOR THE BOMB THAT NEVER CAME
Yesterday was Shabbat - a perfect day to stay at home - relax - catch up with my reading - snooze a bit - you know the kind of day.
In the afternoon one of my friends in the media called to chat - and in the course of the conversation my friend (I won't identify him/her further than that and in a moment you'll see why) mentioned that "those in the know" think - just think mind you - that Hezbollah might - just might - send one of their "zalzel" bombs to Tel Aviv! There was an "oops" right there. "What should I do?" I asked, very calmly I thought. My friend said "Do nothing - just make sure you have some water, a flashlight, a portable radio and when you hear the sirens go to the "miklat"" (shelter). If the bomb was going to be sent to Tel Aviv - what did we here in Jerusalem have to worry about? "Just in case - the sirens would be set off in Jerusalem, too."
I have my big flashlight - prepared from the last Gulf War - and the batteries are up-to-date. I have water. I don't have a portable radio - so that was easy. What to do now? Can't call anyone as I received information that was "classified".
So this is what I did. I took a shower - changed my clothes and put on trousers and a shirt that I thought I'd be comfortable in for a few days - if need be. Then I did my hair - can't go down to the "miklat" with un-done hair. Then came the first big decision - make-up or no make-up? I compromised with no make-up but Royal Jelly Creme on my face to stay moisturized! The second big decision was - contact lenses or eye glasses? No one - and I mean no one - OK, my very closest friends - ever sees me with eye glasses - bifocals, no less. So I decided on eye glasses - in case I had to be in the "miklat" for several days and couldn't clean my lenses. And then I sat down to watch TV and wait for the sirens - which thank G-d never sounded and the bomb was never sent.
Which reminded me of the time, several years ago, when I was on my way to New York and the plane had just taken off when there were two loud explosions and - as I was in Business Class and thus in front of the engines - I could see fire coming out of the engine. The flight attendant announced that we would have to circle - unload all our fuel - and then try to land back at Ben Gurion Airport. No one could tell whether our landing gear was affected - or not - and whether we could land properly - or not. It is said that when a person "knows" he is going to die his whole life flashes in front of him. Not this girl. All I could think of was that - as I was going to New York for six months - I had all of my jewellery with me and it would go down to the bottom of the sea or be burned up when we crashed - and no one would ever see my beautiful jewellery again!!
Now I ask you - how shallow am I? But - I was very calm throughout both crises - so maybe it pays to worry about "shtuyot" (stupid things) - and let everyone worry about the important things. Me - I'll continue to worry about "shtuyot".
I came home from my weekly Sunday lunch with the girls, and as I had a lot of work to do I sat down at my computer and got straight to it. I just received a phone call asking me if I know that eleven people had been killed today at Kfar Giladi. So, now I'm going to watch the news and catch up on everything. It never ends - does it?
Stay Safe.
Rena
In the afternoon one of my friends in the media called to chat - and in the course of the conversation my friend (I won't identify him/her further than that and in a moment you'll see why) mentioned that "those in the know" think - just think mind you - that Hezbollah might - just might - send one of their "zalzel" bombs to Tel Aviv! There was an "oops" right there. "What should I do?" I asked, very calmly I thought. My friend said "Do nothing - just make sure you have some water, a flashlight, a portable radio and when you hear the sirens go to the "miklat"" (shelter). If the bomb was going to be sent to Tel Aviv - what did we here in Jerusalem have to worry about? "Just in case - the sirens would be set off in Jerusalem, too."
I have my big flashlight - prepared from the last Gulf War - and the batteries are up-to-date. I have water. I don't have a portable radio - so that was easy. What to do now? Can't call anyone as I received information that was "classified".
So this is what I did. I took a shower - changed my clothes and put on trousers and a shirt that I thought I'd be comfortable in for a few days - if need be. Then I did my hair - can't go down to the "miklat" with un-done hair. Then came the first big decision - make-up or no make-up? I compromised with no make-up but Royal Jelly Creme on my face to stay moisturized! The second big decision was - contact lenses or eye glasses? No one - and I mean no one - OK, my very closest friends - ever sees me with eye glasses - bifocals, no less. So I decided on eye glasses - in case I had to be in the "miklat" for several days and couldn't clean my lenses. And then I sat down to watch TV and wait for the sirens - which thank G-d never sounded and the bomb was never sent.
Which reminded me of the time, several years ago, when I was on my way to New York and the plane had just taken off when there were two loud explosions and - as I was in Business Class and thus in front of the engines - I could see fire coming out of the engine. The flight attendant announced that we would have to circle - unload all our fuel - and then try to land back at Ben Gurion Airport. No one could tell whether our landing gear was affected - or not - and whether we could land properly - or not. It is said that when a person "knows" he is going to die his whole life flashes in front of him. Not this girl. All I could think of was that - as I was going to New York for six months - I had all of my jewellery with me and it would go down to the bottom of the sea or be burned up when we crashed - and no one would ever see my beautiful jewellery again!!
Now I ask you - how shallow am I? But - I was very calm throughout both crises - so maybe it pays to worry about "shtuyot" (stupid things) - and let everyone worry about the important things. Me - I'll continue to worry about "shtuyot".
I came home from my weekly Sunday lunch with the girls, and as I had a lot of work to do I sat down at my computer and got straight to it. I just received a phone call asking me if I know that eleven people had been killed today at Kfar Giladi. So, now I'm going to watch the news and catch up on everything. It never ends - does it?
Stay Safe.
Rena
