Thursday, September 12, 2002

i really need to get my head out of my ass...why is it that whenever i watch a movie, i have all these lovely things to say for the review but as soon as i sit down to write it, i draw a complete blank??

damn the man
9/12/2002 01:58:54 AM | immortalize me | 21 comments

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

hmmm...September 11, 2002...go figure...

I have been working this out in my head for the last few days, ever since I saw the 9/11 DVD (available now). I had planned on making a post specifically on this subject just to see where my head was at one year later. Turns out, it's still in pretty much the same spot. More or less.

Watching footage from one year ago, it still seems surreal. Unbelievable. Like something created through CGI. I cannot begin to know or understand how those who actually have some personal, direct connection to the events of one year ago today are feeling. What is going through their heads and hearts. All I can say is what so many before me have said. My deepest sympathies are with you. And if you are still around, then I applaud your courage, and marvel at your strength.

These were not cowardly acts. Senseless, to be sure, but not cowardly. These men thought they were being brave, but they were not. They thought they were fighting for something worth fighting for, but they were not. And one has to wonder. What were they hoping to accomplish? We have all read reports, and seen stories about what they were supposedly hoping to gain. But what was it trully supposed to get them? All this was worth dieing for? To me, the only ones who died for something(besides the ones who went into the buildings with no regard for their own safety) were the passengers on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. They banded together and made a choice. They felt that the lives they may be saving were worth more than their own.

After all this time, some are still looking for a target for their pointing finger. Was it Bin Laden? Is he dead? And what good did it do if he is? Do we, as a nation, feel any safer? The terrorist threat alert is on 'High'. What does that mean? Someone explain that to me. Does it mean that more planes are going to be hijacked? More mail infected with anthrax? Or are there new directions in which we now have to look? Should we be afraid to board public transportation in all forms? Should we be afraid of the money coming into our hands and what it may or may not be carrying on it? Are more innocent people, innocent Americans, going to be beaten, harrassed, tormented because they 'scare' us?

People are still angry. They are still scared, still confused, still hurting. And watching the footage on that dvd was like watching it all again for the first time. I have seen those planes crash and the aftermath hundreds, maybe thousands of times. But it is still like it is happening right now. It is still just as raw, and unbelievable as it ever was. Maybe it always will be. Maybe it always should be.

Let Us Not Forget

What does that mean? Let us not forget how easily our country was taken over, no matter for how short a period of time, by fear, panic, hate and anger? Let us not forget the selflessness with which so many men and women faced and went to their deaths that day in the hopes of saving just one person? Let us not forget all the innocent lives that were lost? Let us not forget the terror and confusion so many families and friends went through that day wondering if their loved ones were among the lost? Let us not forget the millions of dollars given in the hopes of helping those who had lost so much? Let us not forget the countless hours that so many people gave in the form of their time to aid in the rescue efforts? Let us not forget the Americans who were beaten and tormented out of fear and hatred? Let us not forget the vandalism of homes, and businesses of those same Americans? Let us not forget the children who were scared when no children should be scared by such horrors? Let us not forget the sorrow?

Let Us Not Forget...

How about this one?

Let us not forget that for one brief, shining moment, we were AMERICANS. We sought out ways to help our fellow man. We gave all of ourselves that we could. We helped when we didn't know whether or not our help was needed, or appreciated. We gave smiles freely, hugs constantly, shoulders willingly. We were the best of ourselves. We shone through, a bright and burning light in a time of what could be the worst, darkest non-wartime disaster our country...our world has ever known. We were one voice that could not be overpowered, one light that could not be overshadowed, one heart that would not, could not, stop beating.

And look at us now. Bickering over extended wait times in airports and restaurants. Brooding about lost tickets, and places lost in line. Wondering why life is so unfair when we can't get a day off work(that's mine). Thinking how unfeeling and callous another human being is because they want to take this of all days to celebrate a birth, or a union in their families, when those are the very things we should be celebrating today of all days.

Perhaps instead of all of this, we should just take a moment. Be quiet for a moment. Remember when so many lost their lives, and try to figure out exactly when and where we all were the moment our humanity died.

9/11/2002 02:56:39 AM | immortalize me | 21 comments