That's right, the, "See something, do nothing" duo actually have jobs as unarmed guards on Egyptian flights. Their role on flights is essentially to handle unruly passengers, air marshall bouncers. They are not under suspicion in any way to be part of the bombs that were placed, but don't really get a glowing review from one official with their airline who tells the world, "These guys are harmless, they would be useless in a fist fight. They cannot in any way be involved." Gee, I feel safer already.
No soup for you guys. The two NYPD detectives from the bomb squad who did disable the bomb as part of their duties received promotions to second grade detective. Is seems the Egyptian guys are painted as pantie-waists.
The two Egyptian men, Abou Bakr Radwan and Hassan Ali are somewhat in hiding due to the attention they've drawn to themselves. Fame of all kinds can be fleeting, but it can take awhile to go away.
Meanwhile, in case anyone was wondering who coined the phrase, "If you see something, say something," all you have to do is read today's WSJ on the man who literally formulated the phrase soon after 9/11, Allen Kay. The phrase is actually licensed by the MTA to other transportation and law enforcement agencies world wide at no fee. Mr. Kay has never received any monetary compensation for the words he strung together.
He does however derive immense pleasure that people have the phrase in their head and do, on occasion "say something" when something is suspicious. And that "something" can turn out to be something that really is suspicious.
I was at the last regular season home game and noticed that the fellow who was in front of us must have left a small carry case under his seat. Did I "say something" because I saw something? No. The fellow was with perhaps his five-year-old daughter and the two of them disappeared for at least three innings to get food at the concession stand. Why people come to a game so famished that their next meal has to be something attained at a long, slow moving line at a concession stand and miss the live action is beyond me. Further, the section I was in you could give a vendor an order and have the food delivered to you. Apparently the father didn't know that.
The woman who did "see something" after seeing the suspicious pot on the New York sidewalk sans its Louis Vuitton bag headed to Egypt was Jane Schreibman, a 66-year-old photographer who first saw the object, continued on, but then doubled back and called the police.
Ms. Schreibman explained that as a New Yorker she's always looking at garbage. I will say this is not a trait performed by all New Yorkers. It is a trait that my father had as he furnished parts of our living room with discards rescued from the curb. I can still see the tilted living room end table brought in from the Sabatino's curb two houses down.
The new slogans, "if you see something, take something...steal something" are of course satirical in origin but not in thought. Umpteen years ago the country singer Roger Miller had a mega-hit with a song he wrote, "King of the Road," about an itinerant hobo who knew how to make ends meet through craftiness, "I know every lock that ain't locked when no one's around."
Roger Miller was born in Oklahoma, not New York.
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