Workdays Shadowed by Fear

“At one point I would come to work and look for escape routes in case something happened,” says Tracy Ricks, a gift shop clerk in Terminal 7. “But I’m surrounded by airfield wherever I go. If anything happens with the airplanes, I’m in a no-win situation.”

Ricks has worked at the airport 14 years, starting with a decade as a cashier in a parking booth. When she got a better-paying job with retailer Benjamin Co., she welcomed the mall-like surroundings and life on the concourse.

Her life seemed settled. She has a grown son and lives alone in Bellflower with her cat.

Then the soldiers began patrolling with their automatic weapons. The bomb scares started--for a while, four a day.

One day, Ricks’ shift ends but she is a veritable hostage in the United Airlines terminal: The bomb squad is investigating a suspicious rental truck in the parking structure outside. It takes two hours before she gets the all-clear.

“I come to work sometimes thinking, ‘Is this the day? Is this my last day?’ ” she says.

Recently, the scares and police scrambles have slowed, and the unnerving sights have begun to fade.

“You get kind of relaxed,” she says. “But, then again, it’s still in the back of my mind.”