Looking Back, Moving Forward
We have reached 10 years since the September 11th attacks on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. To call it an "anniversary" doesn't sound right. Anniversaries tend to be things you look back on fondly, so let's just say what I said at the beginning... it's been 10 years.
I'm not really sure what I can say about what happened that day that I didn't already say at the time (and you can read what I wrote in the archives on this site). I do know that conversations of late turn to the usual questions: "Where were you when the attacks happened?" "Were you scared?" "How did you feel about it?" And another one that tends to say much more about our national psyche: "When did you feel things were back to normal again?"
On some levels, we're still dealing with that. Things definitely changed that day and in days since, particularly with regard to airport security and other measures that deal with preventing another attack. I didn't necessarily want to get a passport to be able to travel to Canada, but it's handy to have and I've always wanted to go to Europe, so now I'm a step ahead in that regard. We still flinch occasionally when we see a plane fly overhead (and as I live in the flight pattern for the Philadelphia International Airport, that happens with perhaps more regularity for me). Some have actually seen 9-11 as a day when things started going downhill for the United States, and with war and economic crisis since, it hasn't stopped. I think that's a fatalistic view of things. We've had our ups and downs since 2001 (I mean we were already in a recession when the attacks happened, due to the dot-com bubble bursting); it's an everyday struggle living in this new reality, and some days are better than others.
So when did I think things were back to normal again? It didn't happen right away. That weekend, I went to my alma mater, Susquehanna University for a football game, and everything took on an added layer of significance... the national anthem, the fact that we were all together, the fact that this was a large social gathering, the first for most of us since the attacks. So that was not "back to normal." When baseball returned, that helped.
I honestly think that I started to feel a sense of normalcy on the night of another sporting event... a college football game between Syracuse and Auburn at the Carrier Dome on September 22. It was SU's first game after 9-11, and cornerback Steve Gregory's father was among the first responders dealing with the aftermath of the WTC attacks. So there was a lot of extra patriotic fervor and thankfulness for people like Gregory's dad... and then the game started. Syracuse was 1-2, and there were fresh memories of the Orangemen getting embarrassed in their first 2 games of the season, games with national attention. As the game kicked off, I had a momentary thought... I really hope we don't s--t the bed on national TV again, because nothing would ruin this respectful tribute to our heroes worse than a Carrier Dome full of people booing and calling for Paul Pasqualoni's head. THAT was when I knew things were getting back to normal.
But, of course, it's a "new normal" we have today. And things have happened in the last 10 years that have caused major disagreements in our country, and to be quite blunt, it can be scary sometimes to see how the tone of discourse in this country has changed since those moments when we thought we were all united as a nation. Did 9-11 accelerate the decline into hyperpartisanship? That's an argument for another day. In fact, let's leave the politics for another day, period. We can debate how 9-11-01 is marked all we want... on September 12th. Today, let's just remember and observe.
Now, a lot of us don't want to revisit that day, and that's fine. We really don't need to see the video of the day again to know that it happened. We don't need to talk about where we were or how we felt to know that those things happened. Today's a day for many to attend memorials, for others to do things to better their communities, and, well, today is Sunday, which means for me I have a lot of work to do for classes, and that's okay too. Going about our everyday lives may be the best way to remember what happened, because that was what we needed to do after the attacks happened. But rest assured we will never forget... because there are lessons we still need to learn and remember from that day, about tolerance, unity, freedom, and who our heroes really are.
Those are the things that come to mind today. We think about how we felt on that day and in the days immediately afterward, when our complaints and our causes célébres felt so silly, when we were trying to come to terms with what happened, when we had to realize that this was the act of a cowardly band of terrorists and not an attack on us by an entire religion, when we realized that pro athletes and celebrities were not the real heroes. We were angry and sad, but we also had to try as hard as we could to be rational above all. It's a struggle that continues to this day, and every year on September 11th, we realize we may have to relearn these things again. Perhaps the best thing to do today and every September 11th is to strive to be the best people we can be. Whether you do that by being active in your community, by renewing your life's purpose, or in silent solemnity, it doesn't matter. Let's all just be the best people we can be. At least for one day.
I'm not really sure what I can say about what happened that day that I didn't already say at the time (and you can read what I wrote in the archives on this site). I do know that conversations of late turn to the usual questions: "Where were you when the attacks happened?" "Were you scared?" "How did you feel about it?" And another one that tends to say much more about our national psyche: "When did you feel things were back to normal again?"
On some levels, we're still dealing with that. Things definitely changed that day and in days since, particularly with regard to airport security and other measures that deal with preventing another attack. I didn't necessarily want to get a passport to be able to travel to Canada, but it's handy to have and I've always wanted to go to Europe, so now I'm a step ahead in that regard. We still flinch occasionally when we see a plane fly overhead (and as I live in the flight pattern for the Philadelphia International Airport, that happens with perhaps more regularity for me). Some have actually seen 9-11 as a day when things started going downhill for the United States, and with war and economic crisis since, it hasn't stopped. I think that's a fatalistic view of things. We've had our ups and downs since 2001 (I mean we were already in a recession when the attacks happened, due to the dot-com bubble bursting); it's an everyday struggle living in this new reality, and some days are better than others.
So when did I think things were back to normal again? It didn't happen right away. That weekend, I went to my alma mater, Susquehanna University for a football game, and everything took on an added layer of significance... the national anthem, the fact that we were all together, the fact that this was a large social gathering, the first for most of us since the attacks. So that was not "back to normal." When baseball returned, that helped.
I honestly think that I started to feel a sense of normalcy on the night of another sporting event... a college football game between Syracuse and Auburn at the Carrier Dome on September 22. It was SU's first game after 9-11, and cornerback Steve Gregory's father was among the first responders dealing with the aftermath of the WTC attacks. So there was a lot of extra patriotic fervor and thankfulness for people like Gregory's dad... and then the game started. Syracuse was 1-2, and there were fresh memories of the Orangemen getting embarrassed in their first 2 games of the season, games with national attention. As the game kicked off, I had a momentary thought... I really hope we don't s--t the bed on national TV again, because nothing would ruin this respectful tribute to our heroes worse than a Carrier Dome full of people booing and calling for Paul Pasqualoni's head. THAT was when I knew things were getting back to normal.
But, of course, it's a "new normal" we have today. And things have happened in the last 10 years that have caused major disagreements in our country, and to be quite blunt, it can be scary sometimes to see how the tone of discourse in this country has changed since those moments when we thought we were all united as a nation. Did 9-11 accelerate the decline into hyperpartisanship? That's an argument for another day. In fact, let's leave the politics for another day, period. We can debate how 9-11-01 is marked all we want... on September 12th. Today, let's just remember and observe.
Now, a lot of us don't want to revisit that day, and that's fine. We really don't need to see the video of the day again to know that it happened. We don't need to talk about where we were or how we felt to know that those things happened. Today's a day for many to attend memorials, for others to do things to better their communities, and, well, today is Sunday, which means for me I have a lot of work to do for classes, and that's okay too. Going about our everyday lives may be the best way to remember what happened, because that was what we needed to do after the attacks happened. But rest assured we will never forget... because there are lessons we still need to learn and remember from that day, about tolerance, unity, freedom, and who our heroes really are.
Those are the things that come to mind today. We think about how we felt on that day and in the days immediately afterward, when our complaints and our causes célébres felt so silly, when we were trying to come to terms with what happened, when we had to realize that this was the act of a cowardly band of terrorists and not an attack on us by an entire religion, when we realized that pro athletes and celebrities were not the real heroes. We were angry and sad, but we also had to try as hard as we could to be rational above all. It's a struggle that continues to this day, and every year on September 11th, we realize we may have to relearn these things again. Perhaps the best thing to do today and every September 11th is to strive to be the best people we can be. Whether you do that by being active in your community, by renewing your life's purpose, or in silent solemnity, it doesn't matter. Let's all just be the best people we can be. At least for one day.
Labels: 9-11
posted by Dave | 10:23 AM
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