Waiting Rooms

I was sitting in a waiting room as my car was being serviced when a woman walked into the room and sat down. She began to talk to everyone in the room, loudly, whether they wanted to converse or not.

"HEY HONEY! HOW ARE YOU?! YOU LOOK GREAT! YOU LOOK LIKE YOU JUST WALKED OUT OF A MAGAZINE!"

If the victim of this barrage of boisterous words allowed it, she would continue the conversation until the end of time. Well, I had been reading my book for an hour and a half and my eyes were tired. I wanted to listen to my ipod. But I wasn't going to put my book down. Not even for a second. I peeked over my book and knew that would give her just enough time to pounce on me. Plus, I was sure the earphones of my ipod were tangled and it would take me a couple of minutes until they were serviceable. I couldn't risk it. I kept reading.

Finally, after 15 minutes of fretting over this lady, my car was ready. I closed my book and walked out of the room. The lady hurled some questions in my direction, but I artfully shrugged them off. I was about to be free.

It later occurred to me that this lady was a terrorist. She had held the entire waiting room hostage. I realized that bin Laden should learn from this lady and put people like her in waiting rooms all across America. That would shut down our economy in a heartbeat. Dentist’s and doctor's offices would cease to exist. Our nation would be crippled. It's a far more effective method of terrorism than anything bin Laden has done.

One person told me not to tell bin Laden about my great idea. Another reasoned with me, "A great idea is a great idea." But that brings up an interesting ethical question for bin Laden. Would he even take an idea, no matter how great, from an American Jew? Which is more important to bin Laden: his ideology of bigotry or terrorism? It's an ethical question that speaks to the soul of the man.