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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Our Honolulu
Life goes on, even with a smile

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Now is the time for our sense of humor to kick in. The searing pain of Sept. 11 has settled into a dull ache. Welcome to another day of devastation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban must be hurting or they wouldn't be willing to negotiate. It's obvious that they'll rat on bin Laden only to save their own skin. But if we're not careful, the bombing will boomerang in hatred of the U.S.

This is a struggle of hearts and minds as well as bullets. It's going to take a long time, like the Cold War.

Is there really anything to smile about? Of course, there is. I was out walking the other morning along the lower end of Manoa Stream. Snowy clouds drifted over jungle-green mountains. Morning sunlight glinted on the water, making tiny halos of lacy kiawe leaves.

Manoa Stream has become a wildlife refuge, dense foliage on either side. Ducks swim sedately on the water. Mynas, doves, pigeons, bulbuls, cardinals flit through the branches. Mongooses scuttle underneath.

On the Ala Wai Golf Course side, a night heron perched elegantly on a log. Another stalked his prey like Sherlock Holmes.

An old timer on the promenade, skin as brown as old leather, stopped and grinned. "Look behind you," he said. A rainbow arched over Waikiki. "It doesn't get any better than this, does it?" he said and walked on. He was right.

The grim part of stopping terrorism is upon us. I flew to the Big Island on a plane one-third full. I mentioned the empty seats to the steward.

"It's early in the morning," he explained. "Actually, we're doing pretty well."

I drove through Waikiki on a Sunday. There was so little traffic that people strolled across Kalakaua Avenue. At the Halekulani Hotel, I said to the valet parking attendant, "Pretty slow." He said, "It's Sunday. Come by tomorrow." God bless them for not getting discouraged.

At a party in Manoa, guests complained about security at airports, waiting in line for hours. If you have to go to the bathroom, you lose your place. Another guest with a bad back said she can't stand that long.

A little old lady left her heavy bag unattended so she didn't have to lug it through the line. The loudspeaker flashed an alert. Security guards pounced on the bag. The little old lady confessed.

So what is there to laugh about? Well, somebody who calls himself Hawai'i Boy e-mailed me this story:

In 1998 a Hawai'i resident attended a 30th reunion of "Hawaii 5-0" on the Mainland and received a handsome, embossed "Hawaii 5-0" badge with his name on it.

On Sept. 14, 2001, the same resident flew back from San Francisco. A recently expired drivers license got him a seat assignment. But a security check stopped him cold.

Desperate, he flashed his "Hawaii 5-0" badge. The security guard let him right through. Everybody on the Mainland knows about that world famous police organization, "Hawaii 5-0."

Bob Krauss can be reached at 525-8073.