Rant #1,554: A Nice Friday Evening ... Then This!

I am going to combine two stories into one today. I wish I didn't have to do it, but the situation we are living in in this world has forced me to do that.

You will see how one story segueways into another.

On Friday, I left work early to meet up with my childhood friends in Manhattan. This is the second time we have done this, and it is really a fun thing to do.

We do it every couple of months, and Friday the 13th was the night we chose to meet.

We decided on a Spanish restaurant on West 23rd Street in Chelsea--El Quijote--and we had a 7 p.m. reservation. One guy had to bow out due to work he had to do, but it was firm for the other five, including myself.

I took the Long Island Railroad train into Penn Station, and I had my phone on me, but unlike other people, I am not physically attached to the phone, so while I did look at it a few times, it was for nothing more than information on the restaurant I was going to walk to.

After about an hour's ride, the train entered Penn Station, and here is where the story I have to tell goes from something joyous to something repugnant.

I got off the train, worked my way up the stairs to the main area of Penn Station, and there was a certain buzz. I head the word "France" a number of times, and I also heard one guy say to another, "Did you hear what happened ... ," but this was during Friday's rush hour, and everybody's speech was blending into another.

Then I walked through Penn Station to the exit, but as I did this, I saw in the corridor several service men in fatigues, all carrying machine guns. They were positioned at every opening in the main corridor. I know that there has been an increase in police in Penn Station since the 9-11 attacks, but I did not know that there was the positioning of other law enforcement people, too, in this corridor.

And people continued to buzz about France as I worked my way through all the hubbub to the outside. I heard, "Did you hear there was an explosion?" and "Did you hear what happened?" as I worked my way up to the street.

I walked the approximately 11 blocks or so to my destination. It was an absolutely beautiful night, one of those nights in Manhattan that makes any walk fun. But there was a certain crispness in the air that had nothing to do with the weather or temperature. People were moving quickly, and I got caught up in that, so I was walking steadily to my destination.

I got to the restaurant early, and the place was jammed from gill to gill. I decided to wait outside for my friends, and after a while, my friend Andy came, then Howie, and we started to talk about what had happened in France. Andy looked on his cell phone for information, and the information was scant at that point.

We had our dinner, had lots of fun seeing all the guys again--including Stewie, and Peter, who I had not seen in over 40 years. It was a real nice evening, and I walked back to Penn Station when it was over.

I made it back, just made my train, got home before 11 p.m., and basically went to sleep.

The next day, as I read my newspaper, I found out about the enormity of what had happened in France, the bloodshed, the carnage, the barbarianism that human beings can show against one another.

France, the city of lights, had basically been doused by Isis Muslims, in what they call a religious war but to the civilized world, is nothing short of horrific terrorism.

Nobody appears to be immune to any of this, no matter where you live. Actress Natalie Portman, born in Israel and who grew up on Long Island, said many months ago that she moved to France because she felt "safer" there. Really? There appears to be no place safe anymore.

France has retaliated for the carnage inflicted on it, and it appears that all the major world powers are in agreement for once: Isis must be stopped, and stopped as quickly as possible. With cells all over the world, it might be difficult to do, but it must be done.

The thing that gets me is that all of these terrorists are young. There seemingly are no 50 and 60 year old terrorists. All of these terrorists we hear about are in their teens, their 20s, and maybe into their very early 30s.

What makes them hate Western life so that they have to attack it like they do? Are they so impressionable that they were overtaken with Isis propaganda?

Who knows. All I know, is that when I walked back to Penn Station, it continued to be a beautiful night, but then I realized ... this had all happened on Friday the 13th, usually the unluckiest day on the calendar.

Yes, Isis was trying to send a message, and they did.

We got the message, loud and clear, and now, let's see if they get the message--that being that the Western world is not going to stand with their hands up their butts when terrorism like this strikes.

And whether that happens on the next Friday the 13th or whenever, we will strike back.

No, President Obama, "containment" isn't enough.

Annihilation of Isis is the only answer, and I am confident the major powers will see to it that something like this never, ever happens again.