A decade has passed since September 11, 2001.
I was 21, unemployed, and living with my mother and step father in Tallahassee, Florida. I have never been to New York City, nor did I have any clue what the World Trade Center was, and before that day... I didn't care.
I slept late that Tuesday morning. Probably because I was 21, unemployed, and living with my mother. I'm sure a hangover played a part as well.
My mother had left no less than 4 messages on her answering machine for me talking about things that, at that time, made no sense to me whatsoever. I remember one of the messages clearly, her voice starting to sound very worried as she left the message that "...they have evacuated the Sears Tower" (my step father's daughter and her family live in Chicago). That caught my attention. So at that point, I did what every other person in the country had already done, and turned on the television.
I had slept to right around 10am and by that time, every channel was showing the replay of both giant towers coming down like a house of cards. There were two things I noticed right away: 1. this was no accident (the news reports didn't have any useful information at that time other than two planes hit the Word Trade Center), and 2. my world will never be the same.
There I sat, until well into the night. Watching the news. Soaking in all the new information as it came in. Developing a deep hatred for any and all that had a hand in planning this attack.
Never before had I heard the name Osama Bin Laden, but over the course of the next several weeks, I was educated about this "person" and his work. And I hated every bit of it. How could someone have so much hate to commit an act like that? Growing up, in elementary school, we were taught that Saddam Hussein was an evil man. But now we had a new face of evil. And that face would stay in the number 1 spot for almost 10 years.
For the few weeks after the tragedy, we saw the best of the American race. People were volunteering, and donating money, blood, shelter, and many other things to those in need. Everyone's heart grew three sizes, and our flag flew higher than ever before. Who knew that an event like that one would cause our nation to stand side by side and hand in hand?
Fast forward a few years. When the news started leaking out late one night that Bin Laden had been killed, I was happy. My Facebook and Twitter stream were moving at 90 miles an hour with rumor and speculation. I stayed up to watch the news on TV, with my laptop open reading as many stories as I could. I wanted to know details. When the President came on TV and announced that he had indeed been killed, I wanted to jump up and start cheering. I was happy when Saddam Hussein was captured, and was happy when he was executed after his trial. But I was ecstatic to hear that Bin Laden was dead. I wanted him to suffer for the 2,996 lives he took. That may sound like I am a sick and twisted individual, but honestly, can you say that you weren't happy to hear of his demise?
What changed the most for me since 9/11, is I have an intolerance for religious intolerance. I cannot stop you from hating me, and I won't try. Hate me for things I do. Hate me for things I say. But don't hate me because my beliefs differ from yours.
The previous generation had the question: "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?"
Our generation has the question: "Where were you when the towers fell?"
Never forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment