Anthrax Nation
There are few things as universal as the mail. And that's why we worry now when the postman rings. Should we?
Back in America, however, there was good news: Guacamole won't kill you. With Americans taking more antidepressants, mental health emergency hotlines in New York are getting twice the usual number of calls; people are jumping a foot and calling authorities every time they see anything slightly suspicious. By the end of last week, more than 4,600 incidents around the country had been reported to postal inspectors and when, in Chicago, some people noticed a "suspicious" green goo on the sidewalk, a hazmat team was quickly called in. The team just as quickly determined the substance was a decidedly nondeadly form of guacamole. "Guacamole is not dangerous," said Mayor Richard M. Daley, in a quotation that may go down in history. "It's good for you. People have to start calming down. I know they're worried. But they can't overreact. . . . We have to start using some common sense."
The postman rings. But what is common sense in a world where merely touching an envelope can give you a deadly disease? Attorney General John Ashcroft sought comfort in statistics. "Two hundred million people opened their mail last week and nobody died," he said. But for some Americans the postman doesn't have to ring twice--once is more than enough. Robert Greene, 35, a mail carrier in Northwest Washington, D.C., has begun wearing rubber gloves and a surgical mask when he delivers the mail. "Some people don't even want their mail," he says. "I just take it back." Brent Hopkins, a programmer for Citibank in New York, says, "I'm definitely scared. With my home mail, I get my mail but leave it in a pile and open it every three or four days. I don't really think anyone's going to address any anthrax to me. But, yeah, it's that thought: What if that's it? At work, I get a lot of packages, CDs and books that I order online. And for some reason those scare me a little. It's like, you never know what's inside until you open it up, and by then it'd be too late anyway." Greeting card companies are worried as we head into the Christmas season, and Hallmark is considering bringing out a line of Christmas postcards. "If one of the terrorists' major aims is to scare a population, they've done that," says spokeswoman Rachel Bolton. She also urges people to "use your own handwriting and include your name and return address" on any letter or card they send.
So far, the threat of anthrax doesn't seem to have added to economic worry. Consumer sentiment has held up remarkably well after its initial drop following September 11. And U.S. stocks--another sign of economic faith--have gained in four of the past five weeks. But in the area where it counts--buying stuff--consumers have pulled back. Existing-home sales fell 11.7 percent in September; new-home sales were down 1.4 percent. And U.S. businesses are pulling back as profits plunge: Durable goods orders fell 8.5 percent. Americans may not feel worse about the economy than they felt in late September, but "the public is rationing itself," says Brookings Institution visiting scholar Helmut Sonnenfeldt. Who can blame them? With blue-chip companies such as Sears, Roebuck and Eastman Kodak piling on more layoff announcements last week, U.S. consumers now understand that anthrax is one kind of terror-related threat; layoffs are another.
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