Thoughts on 911

I was in my apartment watching TV. I was already depressed due to unemployment. All of the sudden, I saw something quite strange on the screen. A plane was flying much too low. My first thoughts were "What is wrong with that plane? Did it run out of fuel? Are the instruments off somehow?" The latter was a really stupid question. I couldn't concieve of anything else. The plane crashed into one of the two buildings. The Twin Towers were not on my intellectual radar, even though they had been in the Ameerican collective consciousness and featured in some favorite movies.

Then, came another plane. At this time, my dense,depressed mind knew something evil was happening before my eyes. It seemed evil to me because I knew that this was an intentional attack on innocent people. What fallowed on the newscast were speculations of various kinds. Who did it? Why? Needless to say, I was shocked.

When the truth came out, or at least the basics of the truth, my first thoughts were "Why do they hate us so much?" I knew that a lot of people in the Middle East didn't like our foriegn policy and, yes, we had lots of flaws, greed being one of the biggest. Yes, people jumped on others who even "looked" Iranian after the Hostage Criss.I felt badly about some fellow students who had been harrassed and denied jobs because of either their nationality or appearance I did my best to console them.. I could see how those things could create ill feelings. But why in the world would anyone crash into two large, important business buildings filled with innocent people?

I thought a lot ater the attack about our posturing as nation, not politically, but as a people, American people, not just one or two ethnic groups.. I know that everyone will have different takes on this, but I believe that we are generally a friendly, some more overt than others.. If Mike happens to run into Mohammed, or vice-vice versa, and they know each other, they will say "hi" to each other. Mike may go to a church or synagogue and Mohammed may go to a mosque, but they will ask each other about the wife and kids, if those things apply. If there is any political or religious disagreement, they either keep it to themselves or discuss it in a civilized manner. Maybe Mike and Mohammed may not say anything to each other, but they would conduct their business and go back to their lives. Everyone shares a little of the general culture and each brings a little bit of their own culture to "the table." Things aren't perfect, but this is the way I was taught to treat people..

I later learned that one terrorist attempt on Washington, Pan Am Flight 151, was averted and the attack on the Pentagon was successul. I know that the people on all planes were But the main focus was, at least for me, was the Twin Towers. All people on the plane were killed. We have heard the stats on the Twin Tower deaths.

Ater 911, people were not the same. They were afraid to fly. A friend of mine was forced out of the travel business for a while. I went to several temp agencies to try to find a job. No one was hiring. "You know, 911" was the excuse. These things are quite minor compared to the awareness others could attack us without the least provocation. We have become security-conscious. Again, we will never be the same again.