REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK -- Deepa Bharath

People have never been more afraid of amorphous, white powder.

The 911 calls are frantic. Powder at the bottom of a Frosted Flakes

cereal box. White powder in a newly drywalled garage. Face powder on

luggage. Makeup on a purse.

Well, it’s driving local police and hazardous materials experts nuts.

Costa Mesa police have received scores of calls since real anthrax

cases surfaced in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C. Fortunately to

date, there has not been a single genuine case on the West Coast.

But the paranoia continues. Last week, Costa Mesa police responded to

a woman who said she stepped on something on the sidewalk that

disintegrated into a white powder with a yellow center as she stepped on

it.

Was it a powdered jelly doughnut? Not exactly. It was dog poop.

Several Costa Mesa residents have walked into the Police Department

asking front desk attendants to open their mail.

The county’s hazardous materials unit has responded to hundreds of

calls so far. The team’s captain, who was responding to an anthrax scare

at John Wayne Airport last week, said they barely have time to eat lunch

every day.

It certainly seems like the terrorists, or whomever is spreading the

disease, do not have to use a crop duster to spread an epidemic as

powerful as any other -- fear.

Fear is an interesting emotion. I call it an emotion because, like

most powerful feelings, it lacks rationality and logic. It behooves the

bravest and transforms the wisest among us into whimpering cowards.

It is that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you

watch a plane decimate a skyscraper. It’s that icy current that runs up

and down your vertebrae as you miss hitting a big rig on the freeway by a

hair’s width.

It’s that nasty feeling tugging at your ventricles when you see an

unsupervised toddler run for the stairs.

It’s hardly a surprise then that thousands of people today shudder at

the sight of white powder and rush to emergency rooms when they feel a

sniffle tickling their nostrils.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m neither ridiculing nor discouraging those

people who called 911 or the hazardous materials team. I’m not saying we

should not be vigilant or take precautions, but I think we should

exercise some amount of common sense when we jump into action.

If I had been installing drywall in my garage last week and find white

powder in my garage today, I should be able to make the connection

between the drywall and the powder. I believe that I should not let an

irrational fear blind my ability to think clearly and logically.

On the other hand, if white powder drops from an envelope that I get

in the mail that lacks a return address and sender name on it, then I

would call 911.

It’s hard to defeat and conquer an overpowering emotion. But if we dig

deep enough, we will probably realize that we don’t really have to be its

reluctant slaves.

With a little common sense and a lot of resolve, fear is something we

can keep at our beck and call.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .