9/11, 5 years later
Yes, I suck at updating. I also don't have readers, so it's cool.
Five years ago was 9-11-01, when planes flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. It was a pretty devastating day for lots of people... myself included. It was a tuesday. The planes struck early. At, like, 8:46 and 9:06am. I don't remember exactly; I'm just going from what I recall. I first heard about it when I was walking through the student union at school. There was a small tv in the hallway near the mailboxes, and people were watching the news, which was showing footage of the planes and the WTC.
I'm very unfamiliar with NYC. I've been there once, on a band trip in high school. We were chauferred around for the better part of a weekend, and we saw a few things, but didn't get a big grasp of the city. There was certainly no chance for wandering and exploring. On top of that, I had no idea what the World Trade Center was. Now, everytime I look at an old picture of NYC, I notice the twin towers immediately (of course). Back then, it wasn't something I thought about or had ever heard of.
Still, I am ashamed of my first reaction to this tragedy. I was cynical. My first thought was that this event would be used inappropriately. I was already not a fan of the Bush administration (2000 was the first time I really started paying attention to politics), and I can't say for certain that I thought specifically that it would be them that would abuse this event.
I should have been sad, awestruck, frightened... anything. Instead I was frustrated and cynical. I'm sure this says a lot about my character. I'm not immediately one to take well to bad news. Once it sinks in, though, I feel it very strongly.
Fast forward a few hours: We are sitting in a friend's dorm room, watching the coverage unfold. We see videotapes of the planes striking the twin towers over and over. We watch the smoke billow from the burning top floors, and the towers collapse onto the streets. People run to escape the clouds of debris and ash. Lives are lost before our very eyes.
I wanted to cry at that point. My girlfriend looked over at me with the whole group there and said, "you're really having a hard time with this, huh?" Yeah I was, but I could only nod back. I wrote a little open letter that night and posted it on my website at the time. I don't know if I still have it, but if I ever find it, I'll put it up. The gist was simple: we should not satiate our grief with violence. We should find a peaceful response to these atrocities. Perhaps instead of blowing this off as a since instance of a few people with unjustified anger, we should investigate how our lifestyles affect the rest of the world. Does the American Way of Life naturally lead to other nations being impoverished?
Most importantly, though, I was taught as a kid not to react violently to other people threatening and attacking me. I did my best to follow that, and I hoped that we could do the same, post 9-11. It sees to me that we have failed in this endeavor.
Five years ago was 9-11-01, when planes flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. It was a pretty devastating day for lots of people... myself included. It was a tuesday. The planes struck early. At, like, 8:46 and 9:06am. I don't remember exactly; I'm just going from what I recall. I first heard about it when I was walking through the student union at school. There was a small tv in the hallway near the mailboxes, and people were watching the news, which was showing footage of the planes and the WTC.
I'm very unfamiliar with NYC. I've been there once, on a band trip in high school. We were chauferred around for the better part of a weekend, and we saw a few things, but didn't get a big grasp of the city. There was certainly no chance for wandering and exploring. On top of that, I had no idea what the World Trade Center was. Now, everytime I look at an old picture of NYC, I notice the twin towers immediately (of course). Back then, it wasn't something I thought about or had ever heard of.
Still, I am ashamed of my first reaction to this tragedy. I was cynical. My first thought was that this event would be used inappropriately. I was already not a fan of the Bush administration (2000 was the first time I really started paying attention to politics), and I can't say for certain that I thought specifically that it would be them that would abuse this event.
I should have been sad, awestruck, frightened... anything. Instead I was frustrated and cynical. I'm sure this says a lot about my character. I'm not immediately one to take well to bad news. Once it sinks in, though, I feel it very strongly.
Fast forward a few hours: We are sitting in a friend's dorm room, watching the coverage unfold. We see videotapes of the planes striking the twin towers over and over. We watch the smoke billow from the burning top floors, and the towers collapse onto the streets. People run to escape the clouds of debris and ash. Lives are lost before our very eyes.
I wanted to cry at that point. My girlfriend looked over at me with the whole group there and said, "you're really having a hard time with this, huh?" Yeah I was, but I could only nod back. I wrote a little open letter that night and posted it on my website at the time. I don't know if I still have it, but if I ever find it, I'll put it up. The gist was simple: we should not satiate our grief with violence. We should find a peaceful response to these atrocities. Perhaps instead of blowing this off as a since instance of a few people with unjustified anger, we should investigate how our lifestyles affect the rest of the world. Does the American Way of Life naturally lead to other nations being impoverished?
Most importantly, though, I was taught as a kid not to react violently to other people threatening and attacking me. I did my best to follow that, and I hoped that we could do the same, post 9-11. It sees to me that we have failed in this endeavor.
posted by Kyle at 3:02 PM
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