Kids are awesome, terrorist aren't.

So a few days ago, I decided to try to soak in the unusually warm weather that the southeast has been experiencing. Usually, that would mean that I would go for a run, but on this day, it meant going to the Weaver Street Market and studying the GRE outside. Weaver Street is a community-owned organic foods market with an open lawn full of tables, benches, and a fountain.


Heavenly huh?


What made this afternoon more heavenly were all the little kids playing on the lawn. As I was re-teaching myself Pythagorean Theorem, the sounds and sights of two to five year olds playing tag and climbing trees put me in a good mood. They played with such unadulterated pleasure; such abandon, that I couldn’t help but smile and feel warm by their joy. Ahhh, the youthful spirit is so contagious.

I also realized that when I become a father, I want to give my child(ren) all my energy, attention, and focus. That means that I need to experience what I think life can give me before I start raising a family. I need to get to that point where the fact that my life is no longer my own doesn’t matter. I need to get to that point where I’m comfortable and content with my life being all about fostering someone else’s life. That point lies somewhere in my 30s I suppose. I hope my future husband is okay with that.

So I spent the next 24 hours reveling in the warm mood that those kids playing put me in, and then I turned on CNN Wednesday afternoon and watched Wolf Blitzer report on the terrorist attack in the capital of Jordan. The warm mood officially ends as I am informed of the three hotels bombed and the innocent civilians hurt and killed. I watch as a city is gripped in chaos and its people are scared, confused, angry, and vengeful. I’m utterly disgusted by the fact that one of the suicide bombers detonated himself near a wedding reception—of all the inhumane, sick, despicable things to do. (To add insult to injury, the attack came on November 9th, and since the people of Jordan write the date as "the day then the month," the attack occurred on 9-11.) All of it just confirms my suspicion that terrorist are the lowest carbon-based life forms on Earth; they somehow got the opposable thumbs but missed the evolutionary jump of a conscience or the higher mental functions.

The attack on Amman also reminded me of the seriousness of the current terrorist situation. As I’m looking at grad schools, I am considering schools in Washington D.C., and while I certainly don’t want terrorist to control my life and dictate how I live it, I also like not having to particularly worry about being the victim of a terrorist attack. If I move to D.C., that’ll change, and while such worry wouldn’t dominate my daily actions, I will know every day that I live in a city that terrorist would love to strike. Do I even want to deal with that? I don’t know yet, it will require some soul searching I suppose.

So that I don’t end this post on a somber note, can I just bring up one thing? The three hotels attacked in Amman, Jordan were all American hotel chains: Radisson, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn. Who knew Days Inn was international? I mean, the only reason you go to a Days Inn in America is because the Red Roof Inn has no vacancy and the Motel 6 didn’t leave their light on for you. But internationally, the Days Inn is apparently a posh place to stay. WTF, mate?