Some of you might remember that I lived in Boston for a couple of years. I moved there in 2004, when Iraq and Afghanistan were very much front page news every day, underscoring just how fresh 9/11 still was. The entire time I lived there, I worked in the Prudential tower, which is right near the marathon finish line, and the flight path to Logan. It’s one of the only iconic skyscrapers in the Boston skyline, and sometimes on my way to work, in brief episodes of morning-stupor-day-dream-paranoia, I would hold my breath nervously whenever a plane flew behind the building on its final descent. I’d tell myself I was being silly, that the Pru was not on the radar of international terrorists, that it was no more a target than a mall in Kansas City or the Vegas strip.
I still think that’s true after today’s bombings. Yes, the Boston Marathon is known worldwide, but Patriot’s Day is what makes it such a quintessential part of living in Boston. The holiday isn’t well-known outside of New England, it’s of more local significance. This begs the question: why Boston? Why Copley Square, why today? Unless someone takes credit (and what a deplorable phrase we’ve coined for this) for today’s bombings and reveals some kind of motivation, it becomes that purely random act of terrorism, that fearful suggestion planted after 9/11 (and Oklahoma City before that). No international symbol/target needed, no date of significance (like the 3/11 Atocha bombing in Madrid)—it might as well be another day in any city with a crowded event.
So that I could even begin to understand what compels a person to wreak havoc on a civic event, the humanist in me wants to know why this happened. The postmodernist in me, on the other hand, believes that people construct meaning out of facts and theories as is convenient for their peace of mind (or lack thereof). I’m sad for Boston, for the friends I still have there, and I feel unnerved knowing so many people who could have potentially been watching the marathon at Copley today. (And I haven’t even heard from everyone yet, so even that is an assumption I am making to rest better tonight.
To be clear, I don’t think people should live on orange alert, and I’m not against criminal justice. But I don’t really want to have a theory or narrative to cling to about what happened today. I’d rather not be tempted to let it alleviate how uneasy or sad I feel about what is, at the end of the day, a random act of violence.