Daily Prompt: Think Global, Act Local
Write a post connecting a global issue to a personal one.
It took me all day to think of this one and I wound up remembering. It was my job at one time to take groups of printers to Europe so they could see what their counterpart printers were doing, and catch up on newer technologies.
One group went to an equipment exhibition in Germany, where my organization also had a booth in the exhibit hall. The banner at the top announced my firm was from America, and for certain periods during the day, I helped to man that booth to answer questions from passersby.
While I was working there, a letter was delivered to us from the exhibit organizers. It announced we should be aware of a bomb threat and specifically warned that Americans were targeted and we should remain alert. Alert? I was paralyzed. I kept thinking about the banner sign announcing we were from America. All things considered, staying in that booth seemed fairly ridiculous, so I began to walk, pretending to be an onlooker but keeping the booth in sight in case there were legitimate looking people who may have had legitimate questions.
Nothing happened. There was no bomb. The rest of our stay was uneventful, except for the grand places we visited in Germany. Our group became almost like a family, sorry at the end when we all returned to New York and went our separate ways.
But, anti-American sentiment remains a global issue with a very personal connection indeed.
Yikes!
That must have been terrifying