Because my daughter (sophomore in H.S.) was one of 36 kids picked out of 1300 for a trip to Spain and France in the spring. It's a terrific opportunity, but I'm afraid to let her go.
And I hate that.
Because I've changed so much since 9/11.
I'm distrusting of muslims where I never was before.
And I hate that.
Because I'm now afraid to fly.
And I hate that.
Because I'm always on alert taking the train.
And I hate that.
Because I don't WANT to "Press 1 for English".
I hate that!
Because I worry what life will be like for my children when they grow up.
And I hate that.
Because I hate things now...
So I read this thread from time to time to remember all those whose lives changed forever on September 11, 2001
I read this thread and long for September 10th.
And you, Stu?
Why'd you click on the thread?
NEVER EVER FORGET!
Oh, Lord.
I do understand your feelings. We have to travel internationally quite often. I'm always afraid of it. But I go....and pray. I hate pressing "1 for English"..........really pisses me off. (even my local Safeway Pharmacy has this message now......and we live in a small city where there almost no hispanics.) I worry about my children and my seven beautiful grandchildren. Their future is what they will make it to be.....and what we can help it to be.
I guess we can complain because the rose bushes have thorns, or be happy because thorn bushes have roses. I will never give up on this wondeful country. We will survive, and we will do it well.
Great and moving post, Vel. I share all of your views and concerns.
Why'd you click on the thread?
Because it came up in my "lastest posts" list. My first thought was "how in the f*#&$ did it happen AGAIN?". Then I realized it was a ping from a 4 year old post and thought it a little odd.
I personally haven't changed as much as you have. There were over 35,000 murders in the U.S. annually before 9/11, and by the unofficial estimates I have heard, about 20% of those are by foreigners ... which makes, what ... 7,000 murders annually by foreign invaders. To put this into perspective, we have had the equivalent of eight 9/11's since 9/11. Yet, nobody has batted an eye or done much of anything about it. Heck, the guy you just voted in wants amnesty for those who broke our immigration laws, and the traffic has picked up.
Okay, granted our two annual 9/11's are not nearly as dramatic as a plane into a building, not nearly as concentrated, not as easy to rally around, not easy to memorialize - but it's still happening. Every day. About 20 just today. And it's no less tragic.
My brother was in the Pentagon when the plane hit. He was partially deaf for several days afterward. Pretty scary. Yet, nary a month later he was held up at gunpoint in Mt. Pleasant (a hispanic neighborhood in DC).
I asked him which scared him more. He said the latter.
So while you may feel safe while dodging the towel heads every chance you get ... dare I say that although they are much more dramatic and boogie-man-like scary, i'll take my chances on a plane full of turbans over a walk through MacArthur park at 1am and day of the week.
IMHO, 9/11 just gave us a diversion, and took our mind off of the actual threats Americans face daily.
It reminds me of the black folks who are always on TV saying that they are afraid of the KKK, and the media trying to find "white sepremacists" anywhere they can find them. Never mind that 88% of blacks are killed by other blacks, and less than one tenth of one percent of blacks mudered are the result of "hate crimes". Hunting down the pointy-hat wearing white guys in Alabama just makes folks feel better, you know, progress is being made.
And so it is with the "rag heads" or whatever they are being called these days. As scary and ominous as they have no becaome, they make up probably the smallest percentage of crime committed in this country. Most of them work at 7-11 or drive cabs, and wouldn't know a jihad from a shish-kabob.
It's like Tim McVeigh and friends. You get some nutjobs here and there that eventually manage to carry out something hideously improbable, and the media has everyone looking over their shoulder every day for some loner-looking white guy with short hair and calling the cops they see two arabs exchanging business cards (it must be some kind of secret terrorist code) - but unlike most people, I have come to realize that 99% of terrorism occurs on a daily basis with little to no fanfare.
Come to LA sometime and i'll show you the nice graffiti on my house where the 18th street gang has sprawled some threats designed to terrorize the community.
Can some dude in a cave with a walkie talky detonate something near me at some point? Well sure. And lightening can strike me, or someone involved in one of the five daily car chases can come barreling at me, or a member of the Grap Street gang can cross our turf and spark another 60 round gunbattle. What am I gonna do? I guess I could lock myself in a vault, but that would kind of suck.
So, to be 100% honest, I haven't really changed a whole heck of alot since 9/11. I feel horribly for the 35,000 people who are gunned down each year, and in 2001 I felt horribly for the 39,000 that were victims. And this year I will feel horribly for the 35,000, and the next year, and the next year ...
If you think terrorism only comes gift-wrapped in a turban, or if you even think more than 10% of it is ... then you my friend, have been had.
haven't we all.....
for me, I can say that I just don't like the rest of the world as much, even Canada, who I find I am very resentful......
I like America!
some people have shown real B*lls like Tony Blair, Gulianni, Ed Koch, our good men and women in the services........how about the Australians?.....they came along when we needed them....
right now, I want us out of Iraq....we have taken our bit of flesh and now its up to them to come into the 21st century.......
God bless America, and may we work to actually deserve that blessing.....