No worries, be happy?

As predicted, the indictment of 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi, a legal permanent resident of the United States from Afghanistan, on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction has stirred up the concern and paranoia in certain sectors.

While leisurely enjoying my American freedoms on Sunday, for example, I received a lengthy e-mail from my neighbor George. I love the guy, but why does he send me this stuff on such a lazy day?

His e-mail included, among other snippets, stanzas from “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” a press release from the FBI, and 10 examples of how terrorists can and will penetrate our sacred nation if we as citizens are not more vigilant.

He prefaced all this with, “This is information complete with historical facts that every American needs to be familiar with. The future of our nation depends on understanding these things.”

It took some effort to regain my composure. I momentarily envisioned hordes of Taliban crawling out of 20 tunnels on International Street, AK-47s in hand, picking off Border Patrol agents one by one and occupying Old Town Hall and Morley Avenue. Meanwhile, most of us are sleeping in, nursing hangovers, watching Sunday newsmagazines, or sipping on coffee reading the funny papers.

Then I tried comforting myself, believing that the chances of such a scenario are as remote as me winning the Power Ball. But then again, the little George inside of me said, “Wasn’t it this type of complacency that made it so easy for terrorists to attack the World Trade Center in the first place?”

The only thing I could think of was to e-mail him back the Serenity Prayer. I read it over and over myself, then turned up the iTunes and went back to my crossword puzzle.

(Write us at 268 W. View Point Dr., Nogales, Ariz., 85621 or manuel.coppola@nogalesinternational.com.)