Last fall there was a sniper killing people at random around the Washington DC area, including one incident that took place a block from the hotel I was staying in. So acts of random violence can happen to you anywhere.

Beyond that, fleeing in the face of acts such is to simply give in to the terrorists, letting them decide when and where you go. If everyone behaved that way, and sadly most do, then the terrorists have won.

One only needs to look at the hit western economies and societies are taking in the face of the NYC and other attacks to see that contrary to the bravado coming from most politicians, the terrorists are clearly in the driver's seat, winning.