Sunday, September 11, 2005
Well, stupid ass firefox decided to crash and I lost all I was working on. I'm so close to just going back to IE. Let me cut to the chase...I had a lot typed talking about my first drill this weekend as an officer, but I'm going to get into the meat and potatoes of my post.
This morning I was listening to the news and there was a little blurb on FoxNews about 9/11 and it being the the 4th anniversary today of the one single event that has influenced my life more than anything else. I come home today and look at my typical news sites: IndyStar, South Bend Tribune, CNN, Drudge, ABC News, NY Times, Fox News, and Yahoo News among others. Lets go over the number of 9/11 stories on the front pages.
IndyStar- 2 Stories, one AP, the other a nicely written piece...Kudos you guys...
South Bend Tribune- 1 worthless AP story talking about 9/11 loans
CNN- 3, a small memorial, an article about New Orleans firefighters remember 9/11, and another about ceremonies.
Drudge-0
ABC News- 1 about the families
NY Times- 1 headline which links to "complete coverage"
Fox News- 3 Small blurbs, nothing major
Yahoo News- 2 in the sections that I have displayed.
Hello media!? Have we forgotten already these images?
This morning I was listening to the news and there was a little blurb on FoxNews about 9/11 and it being the the 4th anniversary today of the one single event that has influenced my life more than anything else. I come home today and look at my typical news sites: IndyStar, South Bend Tribune, CNN, Drudge, ABC News, NY Times, Fox News, and Yahoo News among others. Lets go over the number of 9/11 stories on the front pages.
IndyStar- 2 Stories, one AP, the other a nicely written piece...Kudos you guys...
South Bend Tribune- 1 worthless AP story talking about 9/11 loans
CNN- 3, a small memorial, an article about New Orleans firefighters remember 9/11, and another about ceremonies.
Drudge-0
ABC News- 1 about the families
NY Times- 1 headline which links to "complete coverage"
Fox News- 3 Small blurbs, nothing major
Yahoo News- 2 in the sections that I have displayed.
Hello media!? Have we forgotten already these images?
Do these images make you cringe? They tear me up, and people forget these images. These images of a single event that has changed the course for millions of people, and changed the government forever. We are quick to use 9/11 as a reference to terrorist attacks, disasters, loss of life, bravery, beginning of war, emergency response, air travel and a myriad of other things, but 9/11 has begun to lose it's impact on a personal level. The media has stopped showing these images to us...they are reserved for an occasional special or a documentary. We forget what it was like to have that feeling of hopelessness and uncertainty as 9/11 turned into 9/11. We forget how the nation stopped on that day.... radio stations stopped broadcasting music, TV stopped airing commercials, air travel was no more, the stock market was closed, tall building all over the nation were evacuated, school children were sent home early, soldiers wondered who and when they were going to war.
Who, upon going to bed on September the 10th 2001 would have thought that the next morning would forever changed their life, and that of the nation? I went to bed in a two bedroom apartment in Lafayette excited because the next morning we were having our cable TV hooked up. I woke to the cable men knocking on our door...I answered the door to the cable guy saying "We have to hook you up fast, a plane just hit the WTC". They hooked up the cable in a matter of minutes and myself, Amanda, and two cable guys sat in shock as the events of 9/11 unfolded on the TV. It was apparent from the start that this was a terrorist attack. I called my National Guard unit with the images of the towers burning on the TV in front of me. I knew that there would be a call up...we were being attacked.
I had to work that afternoon. I was at Best Buy and it was the eeriest day of work ever. Every TV was tuned to a news network, and there was hardly any customers. There were rumors of attacks elsewhere in the country and threats all over. I left work that day with Amanda. I don't remember how she ended up at Best Buy, but we both followed each other to a gas station to fill up. That was the first time that I paid over $2 for a gallon of gas, and we had to wait in line over 30 minutes to get it. The nation was gripped in fear...the comfort that we had felt was no longer there. We really had no explanation as to why this happened...but from the get go we had a gut feeling who was responsible.
The days following 9/11 are blur...I can't remember specific instances past that first day, but that is enough for me. Sitting in our apartment on Brunswick Drive I knew that my life was going to change, and it has in these past 4 years. Hopefully society remembers the images of 9/11 and that emotion that we felt...because that is 9/11 to me. 9/11 to me is not the dividing line between peace and the war on terror. It's the attack on the US that killed thousands in a few short minutes. It's the months and months of people sifting through the rubble, hopefully we can remember this, and if it's necessary for me to put a few uncomfortable pictures on here to wake people up so be it. The images are not supposed to be pleasant...but they are supposed to remind us.
How my life has changed in these last 4 years:
I was 22, I am now 26.
I was on my 3rd apartment, now I'm on my 5th and can't wait to get a house.
I had dropped out of college, I've now graduated
I was just back from AIT and a PFC, and now I'm an LT.
None of my friends had been to faraway lands like Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan...now they have and many are still there.
I hated cats, we have two now.
I was happy to be working at Best Buy, I'm happy to not be working at Best By.
I had a brother and sister, I now have a brother, sister, sister-in-law and a niece.
I had never heard of an IED...everyone now has.
Iraq and Afghanistan had leaders that oppressed their people, now both countries enjoy more freedom.
Michael Moore was a goofy fat guy...he's still fat but I think he is a liar now also.
Indy was a big scary city, I live there now.
IUPUI was pronounced EWWEPOOE...I have since graduated from there and hated that pronunciation.
I liked Purdue, I'm now glad my diploma says IU.
$2 a gallon for gas was crazy, now it would be cheap!
The list goes on on and on...but some things never change...
Amanda is still in Pharmacy school (well, for a couple more months).
I'm still with Amanda.
Cubs still suck.
Still eat out too much.
Well, that's about it. I know that my life was changed in the morning of 9/11 forever, and I won't forget the feeling in my stomach, the tears in my eyes, the fear on my face, the anger in my gut...I won't forget because I still feel them today.
Who, upon going to bed on September the 10th 2001 would have thought that the next morning would forever changed their life, and that of the nation? I went to bed in a two bedroom apartment in Lafayette excited because the next morning we were having our cable TV hooked up. I woke to the cable men knocking on our door...I answered the door to the cable guy saying "We have to hook you up fast, a plane just hit the WTC". They hooked up the cable in a matter of minutes and myself, Amanda, and two cable guys sat in shock as the events of 9/11 unfolded on the TV. It was apparent from the start that this was a terrorist attack. I called my National Guard unit with the images of the towers burning on the TV in front of me. I knew that there would be a call up...we were being attacked.
I had to work that afternoon. I was at Best Buy and it was the eeriest day of work ever. Every TV was tuned to a news network, and there was hardly any customers. There were rumors of attacks elsewhere in the country and threats all over. I left work that day with Amanda. I don't remember how she ended up at Best Buy, but we both followed each other to a gas station to fill up. That was the first time that I paid over $2 for a gallon of gas, and we had to wait in line over 30 minutes to get it. The nation was gripped in fear...the comfort that we had felt was no longer there. We really had no explanation as to why this happened...but from the get go we had a gut feeling who was responsible.
The days following 9/11 are blur...I can't remember specific instances past that first day, but that is enough for me. Sitting in our apartment on Brunswick Drive I knew that my life was going to change, and it has in these past 4 years. Hopefully society remembers the images of 9/11 and that emotion that we felt...because that is 9/11 to me. 9/11 to me is not the dividing line between peace and the war on terror. It's the attack on the US that killed thousands in a few short minutes. It's the months and months of people sifting through the rubble, hopefully we can remember this, and if it's necessary for me to put a few uncomfortable pictures on here to wake people up so be it. The images are not supposed to be pleasant...but they are supposed to remind us.
How my life has changed in these last 4 years:
I was 22, I am now 26.
I was on my 3rd apartment, now I'm on my 5th and can't wait to get a house.
I had dropped out of college, I've now graduated
I was just back from AIT and a PFC, and now I'm an LT.
None of my friends had been to faraway lands like Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan...now they have and many are still there.
I hated cats, we have two now.
I was happy to be working at Best Buy, I'm happy to not be working at Best By.
I had a brother and sister, I now have a brother, sister, sister-in-law and a niece.
I had never heard of an IED...everyone now has.
Iraq and Afghanistan had leaders that oppressed their people, now both countries enjoy more freedom.
Michael Moore was a goofy fat guy...he's still fat but I think he is a liar now also.
Indy was a big scary city, I live there now.
IUPUI was pronounced EWWEPOOE...I have since graduated from there and hated that pronunciation.
I liked Purdue, I'm now glad my diploma says IU.
$2 a gallon for gas was crazy, now it would be cheap!
The list goes on on and on...but some things never change...
Amanda is still in Pharmacy school (well, for a couple more months).
I'm still with Amanda.
Cubs still suck.
Still eat out too much.
Well, that's about it. I know that my life was changed in the morning of 9/11 forever, and I won't forget the feeling in my stomach, the tears in my eyes, the fear on my face, the anger in my gut...I won't forget because I still feel them today.
