Where were you?
We all have a story from that day. We all remember exactly where we were when we
heard about the inconceivable attacks on our country’s most iconic symbols of
freedom and prosperity. We all felt gut
wrenching sorrow and the inescapable vulnerability of an unimaginable
magnitude. Where were you? What was your day like?
On September 11, 2001, I was walking to work at 6:30. I walked into the office, and my colleague,
Greg, was standing in front of the TV.
Now, be reminded, it was 2001, not 2013, we had a TV in the office, but
we didn’t turn it on. But there was
Greg, standing with the remote in his hand, adjusting to volume on an “old
fashioned” tube screen. It was barely twilight
in Alameda, but the live images on the television showed a very blue New York
sky. A blue sky that began to appear
grey and smoky. I looked at Greg and
said “why’s the TV on?” He said “Shhh…A
plane just hit the world trade center.”
The first thing I thought was “Wow.
That’s a pretty bad navigational error.”
Because what the fuck else do you think when a plane hits a building?
Shame on them for building three gimongus airports within ten miles of the city
with the tallest skyline in the world.
That’s what I thought. It’s
probably what you thought, too. But as
the minutes passed, and other details emerged, it became very clear what had
happened. Still, we couldn’t wrap our
minds around it. At least I couldn’t. I remember Greg saying, this country was
attacked. I remember other people saying
it. But I don’t remember any voices from
the news broadcasts. I just remember
thinking “this is all an accident.”
Finally, all the talk about attacks and terrorism got the best of
me. As I walked home at lunch, I started
to get scared. I started to wonder if it
really was intentional. I know it’s naïve,
but I was 21.
I walked in the house and the phone was ringing. That’s when not everyone had a cell phone, but
everyone still had a home phone. I went
to pick up the phone and saw the answering machine blinking with the number “12”. I picked up the ringing phone and heard my
sister-in-law sobbing. “Are you OK? Is Michael OK? Are you guys going to go to war?” I had no idea what to say. Uh.
Yeah. We live in California. And we are in the Coast Guard. We aren’t going to war, lady. I talked to her for an hour. And by the time we got off the phone, I was
terrified. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? I walked back to work. No work was done. I went home and called my mom. I was so torn up by then, when she answered the
phone, all I could say is “why do they hate us, mommy?” She grew up in Lebanon and , still, didn’t have
a good answer.
What did you do?
Well, after we all figured out it wasn’t bullshit, we did a
lot of things. We got sad. We grieved.
We got angry. We accepted. And we moved forward. Together.
We were unified. There were so
many movements. We embraced our public
servants. We supported our
military. We became communal. We bought bumper stickers. And t-shirts.
Everything we did supported the cause.
We were all New Yorkers. We were
never going to forget. We all said “Let’s
roll.” Hollywood made movies and TV shows.
Nashville and Detroit produced songs.
September 11th was a team building exercise. And we all bought into the team. But while we were busy strengthening
our team in the aftermath of disaster, as a result of tragedy, we forgot our
purpose. The purpose of our unity.
Never forget
After September 11th, 2001, we were committed to
each other. We were committed to saving ourselves from our selves. We were
committed to being stronger and better and more solidified. It has only been twelve years. Twelve.
But we have already forgotten. We
have already forgotten the 2996 men and women who lost their lives that day. You
know how I know, when I Googled the number of casualties from the attacks on
the Pentagon and World Trade Center, I typed in “casualties in the US” and the
first three hits were “civil war”, “Afghanistan”, and “Syria.” 9/11 was actually the ninth on the list. So.
All of that rallying we did, all of that committing to the greater good,
all of that improving ourselves is only ninth.
All of the committing to each other didn’t mean shit. And it shows.
Because we are more divided now than we have ever been. We can’t agree on how much to pay our
teachers and firefighters, but we still vote ignorant assholes , who are quick
to give themselves raises, into office.
We can’t seem to figure out how to take care of our neighbors, but we
freely allow our government to take care of negligent bankers and war
criminals. Tomorrow is the 12th
anniversary of the day we came together, to protect and defend each other. But what have we done to fulfill that promise
to each other? Never forget.
-Inner Peas
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