Overnight Stay
Last night - a more-than-usually relative term when 'blogging about NYC from Sydney - a guest's misplaced bag triggered the evacuation of five floors of the Waldorf Hotel. (This is where Meera and I had a bit of our honeymoon, in a suite that would have been "Presidential" in any other city in the world, easily engulfing four of five apartments of the size we lived in there, which is the main reason I even bother to reference this story.) Naturally, Colin Powell, who's staying there right now, so he's within easy reach of the UN, was not among those removed from the building - even though he's the reason an unattended suitcase in the car park caused the level of concern it did; and yes, that's is fair, despite the fact that NYC lives with a hightened state of anxiety over such items than it did in the past, because, nevertheless, five floors of a luxury hotel would not have been evacuated if the presence of Mr. Powell didn't lead officials to respond with full drama; the matter would have been simply handled, quietly and efficiently, as such matters have always been dealt with, even since September 11. No, it's the war on Iraq, and the threat it raises to the US that put the guests on the street and snarled traffic for two hours. Sure, it's just two hours, and some salesman's bag strewn across an empty lot someplace on an island in the East River, but sustained anxiety levels like this can lead to a stroke or heart attack. And why, if they had the owner of the suitcase, was it necessary to use explosives on it? There goes the poor guy's walkman. And his nice suit for the meeting tomorrow. Will he be recompensed? No, he won't. The lesson: never leave your bag unattended; Colin Powell will blow it up.