Just Another Panic-stricken Day at the Market!

In my last commentary I wrote about some of the cause of stress in our lives.

A couple of weeks ago I experienced a situation that illustrates just how stressed our population has become, even right here in north central Montana.

The event that took place not only demonstrated the stress that is evident, but that there is also a sign of fear within our community, something I have never before seen in our area.

We are a vendor at the Farmer's Market in Great Falls, Montana and we were at the market on that day. The weather was great, there was a good sized crowd, and everyone looked to be having great time.

A vendor near us has a lovely trailer and in the trailer is a large piece of equipment on a stand. The equipment was not in use at the time, but had come loose and fell to the floor of the trailer with a big, loud bang.

The effect on the crowd was instantaneous with people freezing in place, then starting to look toward exit routes.

As I looked at folks I could see panic and indecision on their faces.

It only took about 30 or 40 seconds for people to realize there was nothing bad happening, but as I watched this all unfold I realized that if anyone had yelled bomb, or something equally ignorant, things could have gotten ugly fast.

It would have only taken one or two people to scream and run, for the excrement to hit the fan!

Many of us who live in "fly-over country" tend to think that what goes on in the rest of the U.S.A. or the rest of the world for that matter, doesn't really affect us so much.

What I saw a couple of weeks ago leads me to believe that we are affected more than we want to admit.

- Geo