From Russia: Don't Get Complacent

The tone of things is different right now in Russia.

The security volunteers are smiling when they say hello in English, and I try to say hello in Russian.

We've now seen each other several times a day for over a week, and there is a familiarity that breeds comfort. That is nice -- and welcome -- but perhaps, it needs to be tempered just a smidge.

After the Opening Ceremonies went off without a problem -- when a faulty snowflake is the worst thing, you're in good shape -- there seemed to be a collective exhale when it comes to security.

But in talking to people involved in the security business, this is no time to be relaxed.

In fact, it is the exact time to remain vigilant.

This is not to say the Russians are getting lax. Almost all procedures are the same as the day the Games began. They even checked for explosives underneath my shuttle bus this morning, not as we entered the International Broadcast Center or Olympic Park but just to enter one of the main media hotels.

Yet, the new-found sense of comfort, not to be paranoid, feels almost uncomfortable.

The goal of the Games is to be safe from beginning to end.

Let's keep having fun, but please keep checking my bag every time I leave the building. I really don't mind.