11 September 2006

Reflections on That Day

"Do you think anything will happen tomorrow? Should I keep the girls home from school?" I was asked that question late last night. "It's a little late to be concerned about it, don't you think?" was my response.

A little late; by about a decade and a half (more than that, really). Those pesky "September 10th" people. Geez.

I have been firmly in the "September 12th" crowd since That Day. OK, you could argue, shouldn't I have been "all concerned" after Beruit? Or Khobar? Or The USS Cole? Or the 1993 WTC bombing? Or any of the other attacks?

Well, yes I was "concerned", but I freely admit that I was not focused until the second plane hit the towers.

I was in a meeting at the time, and one of the people in the meeting saw on her pager that a plane had crashed into the WTC. A short discussion followed, with the concensus that it was probably a small private plane, a stunt gone bad or a spectacular suicide. (Dave in Texas, posting over at Ace of Spades recently posted recollections along the same train of thought. Speaking if Ace; be sure to read all the other stuff posted there).

Minutes later her pager went off again: a second plane had hit the towers.

Oh Shit.

Our meeting ended and we all went to the lobby to see if there was any coverage on the TV. We walked into the lobby and saw 50 or 60 people watching CNN. No one was speaking, christ, no one was breathing; just the running commentary on the tube. Talk of a third plane.....then a fourth plane......

Oh Shit. I was off to my desk to grab my personal items and on my way home.

The paradigm had shifted. Permanantly. Some of us realize that; some of us do not.

Last year, I wrote of some National Peoples Radio story about new college grads and their views on the Global War on Terror:

".....some knob on NRP was going on about how the current crop of college graduates were worried that the ".....War on Terrorism was going to be a factor in their lives
for some time to come....." Well, NO.SHIT.SHERLOCK. Get used to it.

I'm 42 years old. Short of cataclysmic nukular strikes rendering what is now known
as the "Middle East" into a glowing smoldering glass plate, this War on Terror will be with us for the rest of my life. My children will grow up with it, and when we finally win this thing, my children will rejoice as I did upon seeing the Berlin Wall fall....."

It still may take cataclysmic nukular strikes. It still may take laying waste to the entire region. I'm OK with that. A little vengeance, now and then, is a good thing. Mike over at Cold Fury is spot on with his comments on the matter. Vengeance, indeed.

Long time readers know that I am a huge fan of James Lileks' work. He has posted his personal images of That Day; along with a Screed on the subject. In 2004, I tried to do my bestest Lileks impersonation (and failed miserably. But you knew that.)

I've been spending my blogging hours (rather, minutes) reading the reflections of friends that I have never met. This year's crying jag (it happens every year since That Day) came courtesy of the gracious Peggy Noonan's Opinion Journal piece. It's always something.....

Ragin'_Dave of Four Right Wing Wackos fame lays it out in his "Five Years Later" post. BTW, Dave? Thank you for your Service. If you ever find yourself in SE Michigan, I'll buy you two 40 ounce quarts of your favorite beer and all the White Castles you can eat.

Cox and Forkum continue the series with their entry. Steyn is, well.....Steyn. Q and O's excellent ongoing Project Hero looks at a FDNY Firefighter, their entry in the 2,996 posts on those we lost five years ago. Jeff Goldstein spells it all out, personally.

There are many, many others (see also, BlogRoll). There is so much more to be said and done, and much that needs not be said or done. Some of us realize that; some of us do not.