I was a Senior in college and it was a beautiful Tuesday morning. I was excited to bike to campus to go to my History class. I was still confused when I left for campus because at that time only the first tower had been hit. Initially it didn't seem obvious that the building would collapse as a result of the intense fire that erupted from the massive amounts of fuel that were in the planes. I thought that the situation was bad, but not so bad I should stay home from class. Later, I was in for a shock when the scale of the tragedy left me heartbroken, scared, shocked and completely horrified by how awful human beings treat one another. Since I wasn't exactly sure what to do about my 10am class that morning, I headed in. By the time I made it to campus I heard the updates that a plane hit the Pentagon and another may be headed to the Capitol Building. I was paranoid by this point and wanted to run out of that class to call my Dad and my sisters whom I knew would be in the city by that time of day at work. I'll never forget that my Professor with a strict attendance policy announced that people could leave the class, but they would be penalized one of our two available days to miss class if we left. It was a no-brainer for me- I looked at him with anger, and left. I still think he's an A-hole. Eleven years later. He never rescinded that damn missed class policy for those of us that left class on September 11! I still ponder where his compassion was?
I sat riveted by the events captured on TV for the rest of that day with all of my housemates. I'm still brought to tears when I remember watching my Afghan-American roommate and very good friend sob because of what those men, who shared a heritage with her, did.
The phone lines were busy when I called home to my family back in DC. That made me even more paranoid. Thank God everyone was ok. To correct myself, I should say, the people I know were OK There are thousands of those who lost their lives that day simply because of their Nationality. They were never OK again.
I love this video because it shows the raw shock and pain our country suffered after September 11th. John Stewart wisely points out that we were never beaten, and already won the war the Terrorists waged against us because we got back on our feet instantaneously after the attacks with the spirit, hard work and ingenuity of our people.
After 9/11, I felt a sense of community that I had never seen before. They say it was how bonded the US was after we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. It may be silly, but I remember after Sept 11, people were nicer on the road even. They would actually let you in when you were trying to merge lanes! It may sound trivial, but something that minor shows how our attitudes changed as citizens in large and small ways.
