nmah3498.xml

nmah3498.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

While the attacks on the 11th were significant in so many ways, I found myself most affected by the events following them:

A walk home, in lieu of our normal subway ride.
Not a single plane in the sky, heading to or leaving O'Hare.
Silence in a city of millions.
A moment of silence observed by thousands over several closed Chicago blocks.
Security teams on rooftops.

Then other things, reassuring in various ways:

Successful phone calls to friends in DC and NYC.
"L" trains rumbling past our apartment.
American flags strewn across almost every window on our street.
Dinner with a cousin stranded in Chicago when his flight to California (from Logan) was diverted.

No, my life hasn't changed. I fly. I am proud to be an American. I wonder why so many people have such anger with others. I wonder why people let religion create such powerful standards of justness that they fail to recognize the justness of others' standards.

There is little difference between an extremist terrorist and an anti-abortionist doctor-killer. There is little difference between the attacks on the WTC and a nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki or Hiroshima.

Perspective is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps the attacks can lead us and all peoples of the world to consider broadening perspectives.

September 11th is a day that people died for their values. Fanatics died trying to make a point. Heroes died trying to save people. Workers died while trying to provide for themselves and their families. Travelers died trying to visit friends, families, colleagues.

I absolutely flew a flag after the events of September 11th. My feelings about the flag have always been strong although I still respect the expression of protest by someone who burns it. But, I hope it's harder for people to burn it today. It represents a little more than it did before...