[I]n fact, I talked my coworker pal to hit the streets with me after lunch to look for distraught women to take advantage of! Those women were distraught because some of their fellow New Yorkers had just been crushed to death, and the victims' bones, intestines and body parts were scattered all over Ground Zero. These women might have known some victims who had their heads crushed, hands or limbs severed, and who may have died slow, agonizing deaths. Many ladies were probably searching for their loved ones, not knowing if their husbands, brothers, sisters, etc. were dead or still trapped in the rubble or at a hospital.
And you were thinking of scoring.
Relax, I was just kidding. And for what it's worth, I'm always thinking of scoring!
9-11 was an atrocity, for sure. But that doesn't mean we can't cope with tragedy with humor. It's as old as time itself.
And also, I lived in NYC for 33 years, but I am not a mark for the myth and legend that are beginning to grow around 9-11. There was a ton of looting going on downtown - the primary suspects were some members of the NYPD themselves!! Believe it or not!
NYPD pulled it's cops out of the towers so they wouldn't get crushed, while the FDNY sent their men in to their certain deaths.
Do you know why NYC needs new firemen? One reason is that over 300 died on 9-11. Another reason is that a record number retired after January 1, 2002. Seems they all had a ton of overtime in the last 1/3 of 2001 (predictable) and their deal is that their pension is based on their income in their last full year of service (2001), which in many cases was 33-50% more money than they usually make because of their crazy OT in the post 9-11, Ground Zero work.
They are screwing the city out of a lot of money. Three cheers for our selfless heroes of 9-11!!!!! Hip, hip, hooray!
I know several women who tell stories of firemen at bars milking 9-11 for all it was worth, looking for what is colloquially called a 'mercy
f*@k.' Now that guy's behavior is far worse than cracking a few jokes to release some stress, I hope we can agree.
Heroes.
It's easier for some people to believe in their heroes with their shiny badges, but the truth is that the men and women of 9-11 tend to fall somewhat shy of that ideal.
I honor the heroes of 9-11, the police, firemen, and EMTs, and others. But the truth is that many of their rank fell well short of a heroic ideal, both on and after 9-11. Painting them all with a super heroic brush is as intellectually dishonest as painting them all as lowlifes.
The truth is that they are human beings, some behaving some heroic than others, and some behaving more criminally than others, and everything in between.