Homeland Security at the Truckstop

Early Sunday morning I rose before my friends camping. We were short on supplies for breakfast so I snuck away to grab groceries and coffee. I came upong the Flying J gas station in Brigham City, Utah and was genuinely surprised to see this sign above the door. Threat Level Today Yellow (Please see cashier for details). This had me wonder . . . . are these gas station cashiers somehow the source for counter terror information? How ignorant do I have to be of the situation in the world to get a security briefing from Norma behind the counter? Is the terror level still relevant? Why is Flying J doing this?

To tackle the relevancy issue I think this weekend was a good example. Nearly all US airports were in a heightened security following the Glasgow and London indicents over the weekend. Travel times delayed. Major cities showed a stronger police and security presence. The NYPD had officers with machine guns standing in Times Square along with lines of patrol cars, as many as 75 in a row, with lights and sirens near tourist spots to have a added show of security.

It's a strange myopic world view perpetuated top down in the politics of this country. I didn't ask but I suspect that Norma behind the counter couldn't speak to the london bombing attempt or the machine guns in Times Square. But she may know that we are still on Yellow Alert because nothing has changed.