nmah6580.xml

nmah6580.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-08-29

At the time of the attacks I had finished college and was still bartending in a restaurant. I had the luxury of sleeping in on a regular basis and enoyed it quite alot. The tranquility of this sleep and that way of life was shattered that morning when my roommate called me from down the hall to tell me to turn my TV on. I sat there numb and dumbfounded watching the events unfold. I guess you could say that I had tuned in just in time because right after I did the second plane crashed into the Trade Center and shortly after that the buildings collapsed. That night at work was the slowest and longest shift I ever worked. We closed early and sat watching the coverage trying to put it into a perspective that we could understand.

Yes. Life has forever been changed. I'm shamed to admit it but I no longer look at people the same. If there is any one thing that I could point to it is this undercurrent of fear that seems to be coursing through the country right now (August 2004). We seem to be hung up and unable to continue with our lives as they once were. I don't think this is in and of itself a bad thing. The reevaluation of our country and our values that this event has sparked and led to some very positive changes, and, unfortunately some very negative consequences.

As different and diverse as we are in this world, we were able to come together for one brief moment as one. The caring and concern that we felt for each other was true and unforced. It was a vision of the strength of our characters and what it is to be a part of the brotherhood of man.

We flew a flag at our house following the events of 9/11 and then kept it up. It's still there. If there was any one thing that bothered me in the year following was that suddenly everone became super-patiotic to the point of discriminating against people who weren't. So, no, my feelings toward the flag did not change. As a history student and subsequently as a teacher I already had a sense of what the flag has meant to our country thoughout our history. The events of 9/11 served to link my knowledge of history with real emotion. I will forever be able to say where I was and what I was doing on this particular day just like my parents' generation can say where they were when JFK was shot.