…and I commented to the teller that when the first of the Towers fell, I was standing right there, at the bank. It’s one of those moments where people always remember where they were.
And she smiled sadly and said, “Oh, I remember exactly where I was. I was rushing to Brooklyn to be there for my mother when my sister’s tower fell.”
I asked with the terrible feeling that I knew the answer. “Was she all right…?”
The teller shook her head and pointed at a photo over on a little shrine at the front of the bank. “That’s her picture over there.”
“I’m…surprised they didn’t give you the day off.”
“I wanted to be here,” she said. “Doing this is how I’m dealing with it.”
I think I’m just not gonna talk to anybody today…
PAD
• 
I’ve often been called crude, or tactless or in bad taste, and you know what my general response is? Shut the heck up and let me say what I want.
Censorship is never good, not even self-imposed censorship.
I’m not about to read a novel where it’s “African-American Jim” going down a raft. Or having to change the title of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to suit someone else’s idea of what everything should be.
Do I think it’s bad people died? Sure. Do I care about anyone that died personally? No.
To me personally, I think it made for great television and kept me entertained. I’m glad it happened for that reason. Even 2 years after it happened, I still get to see the ramifications on the world that happened because of it. And to me, that’s immensely satisfying.
Am I morbid? Yes. Am I crass? Yes. Am I truthful? Yes. Do I care if I upset people who should be over it by now? Nope, not one dámņ bit.
I’ve often been called crude, or tactless or in bad taste, and you know what my general response is? Shut the heck up and let me say what I want.
Blehh. Freedom OF speech doesn’t mean freedom FROM speech.
Say what you want, but you dámņ well better be prepared for the responses to what you said. It ain’t no censorship if I tell you that you’re being a jerk (particularly when it’s true).
Actually, if you speak to anyone who knows the Constitution and the way it’s interpreted then there actually is “Freedom from speech” that is implied.
That allows them to make laws prohibiting cursing or slander or other such things.
But hey, if you want to voice an opinion, feel free.
Steve #2 said: “I think it made for great television and kept me entertained.”
I think that one of the biggest problems in the world is that people are so calloused and desensitized to violence that the events of 9/11 and other atrocities are seen as entertainment instead of tragedy.
I first heard about it in the morning, when the hijacked planes had crashed in the twin towers, and I was stunned. Living in a country like Israel that’s already been plagued with terrorism for many years now, it’s no surprise as to what could happen here, but until 9-11, I’d never thought it possible that something this horrendous could happen in the US as well. I’d watched it for a short time on TV in the morning, but then I had to go to work, and on Tuesdays, I’m out of the house for hours, so it was only after several hours that I heard from my mother who called me on the phone that the WTC had collapsed.
My mother has a cousin and a stockbroker who worked in the WTC who thankfully weren’t there when it was attacked. Their work schedules there only began later in the day, and so they were lucky not to have been there when it was attacked.
By Steve #3:
I think that one of the biggest problems in the world is that people are so calloused and desensitized to violence that the events of 9/11 and other atrocities are seen as entertainment instead of tragedy.
Sadly, this is true, and most certainly in many Middle Eastern countries under an Islamic dictatorship. And it’s a real shame to point out that in Europe, whereever there’s anti-Americanism, there too they can be very desensitized to violence of this sort.
It’s been a busy few days, but I figured I had to chime in on this thread as well.
Two Sept. 11’s ago, I’d just dropped my wife off at the airport — she was headed down to LA for a conference. Driving from the airport to work (a school where I’d just started a new job weeks earlier), I heard the first halting reports on NPR about a “small plane” hitting the WTC. “Geez, that’s not good,” I think, and then arrive at school and start getting ready for classes. One small plane, right?
Forty minutes or so later, other colleagues start coming in talking about it. I discover there’s a lot more to the story, and start trying to get hold of my dad — lives in Hoboken, works just a few blocks from the WTC. (It takes a few tries, but I eventually hear from him — he’s fine.)
The school day becomes very surreal, with news pretty much changing every class period. We set up a live CNN feed in several computer labs so that anyone who wants to keep abreast of the situation can. I hear from my wife, whose flight was cancelled (no surprise) and who wound up taking a cab home.
And life continues. Somehow.
A week later, one of our history teachers who’s on medical leave dies of breast cancer at the age of thirtysomething.
Six or seven weeks after that, one of my students loses her mom (who’s also the head of our parents’ association) in the Queens plane crash.
I think half of the campus pretty much decided at that point, “okay, I’m just calling in sick the rest of the year.”
I got lucky — with tons of friends and family in the NY/NJ area, I didn’t lose anyone. But I could’ve.
Peace to all.
TWL