At what points do alarms become alarming?

The truth of the matter is NY is a bit of a scary place to work, let alone live. With the recent crane accidents, manholes blowing up, steam pipes exploding and the random muggings and murders that still occur, I find myself trying to get into the city when its still early enough to see what the hell it is I'm walking under, into, around, or past and getting out as soon as I possibly can.

While the boy and I enjoy venturing back in on weekends to explore the city in all its touristy glory, we tend to vacate the hustle of the city as soon as the work bell sounds. I like to call it self preservation. Call me paranoid, and those of you who know me will, I'm afraid of everything, and you'll find me knocking on wood more often than you'll find me brushing my teeth (don't worry-I still brush at least twice a day).

So when the sounds of New York City start to fill my ears, I begin to wonder, should I knock on wood and hope for the best or run? But unfortunately, you kinda get used to it and maintain your steady walk.Tonight while on the phone with my big bro during my walk to port authority, we paused our conversation 6 times while the screaming sirens of New York's finest plowed into the streets heading uptown. While my brother commented that it sounded like he was stuck in the middle of a NYC movie soundtrack, I commented that I hoped that traffic wasn't going to be jacked up in the tunnels as a result. What can I say? You become immune.

And upon entering Port Authority to flashing lights and the shrill sounds of fire alarms, I found myself looking up at the escalators. Nope, nobody running around terrified, no cops ushering people out or barricading the doors, so it must be fine. I continue with my everyday auto pilot commute to the fourth floor bus line and knock three times on the hand rails all the way up. At some point you can only hope for the best, right?