It began as most other school days did. My mind was still shaking off the effects of a 5am family scripture study as I calmly waited for my neighborhood friends to pull in the driveway to take me to school. I sat down on the couch and turned on the news, as I always did when I had 5 minutes to kill. The television screen burst to life with the scene of two towers. The commentators’ voices and words were lost as my brain labored to understand the pictures I was seeing. One stood resolute while the other was victimized by an enormous amount of smoke billowing out the side, suffocating the upper half of the building. I looked down to the white-on-red text at the bottom of the screen. “AIRLINE CRASHES INTO WORLD TRADE CENTER.” What’s the World Trade Center? I ask. “And who’s stupid enough to crash into it?” The uneasy feeling in my stomach led me to believe that this was something more than an accident…HONK! Out of the corner of my eye I see the sea-green 95 Honda Accord pull into my driveway. I jumped up from my couch, turned off the TV and rushed outside to tell my friends the news.
As I opened the rear door I’m buffeted by the loud sub-woofered lyrics of “Never made it as a wise man…!” They were familiar, probably because I’d heard them every single day for the past month, as our driver Matt declared it our ‘Drive-to-school song.’ Nicole, my friend from across the street greets me as I sit down next to her. “Hey guys did you hear about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center?” I questioned. Matt shakes his head negatively while Nicole answers with a “No. What happened?” “I’m not exactly sure.” The answer seemed to completely kill any further curiosity from my friends as we made our routine ride to my high school.
As I made my way to my first class I stop to ask different friends if they’d heard anything about the crash. No one had. So I made my way to class and sat down, instantly turning to my classmates to ask, “Did you guys hear…” Most of the time, however, their wide smiles and laugher were a giveaway that they hadn’t. More often than not I was answered with, “What is the World Trade Center?” I was completely dumbfounded! The public school system has failed us! How could everyone be so happy when such a tragedy like that is going on as we speak? People are dying! I stopped and thought about that for a second. I guess it is hard to have sad feelings for something that ten seconds before you did not even know existed, much less mourn. I looked around my classroom in suburban Layton, Utah and realized that no one probably even knows anyone in New York City, and only a few had even seen the Twin Towers outside of postcards or the internet. I had to admit that I felt very little self-guilt for enjoying my day when I know that there are little children dying of AIDS in Africa. Ignorance, or at least unfamiliarity, is bliss.
Unfamiliarity was soon to going to be changed with an all too comfortable intimacy, as our second period class was interrupted with a loud beep beep beep of the intercom. “Dear students and faculty,” my principal began. “We regretfully announce that some extremely unfortunate events have occurred this morning in New York City and Pennsylvania…” I don’t remember the rest. We spent the rest of the day watching TV’s in our classrooms. The only break from the news coverage was taken in my history class, where Mr. Seiter, my Episcopalian… “and be sure and remember that!” teacher, had us all take out a piece of paper to record the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of that day. Mine was filled with questions of my happenings that morning and the questions of an uncertain future. Did this mean war? Will there be a draft? Our world will be forever changed.
And so it was, not so much as from good to bad, but I came to see it more as the world maturing. Our nation maturing. Just as a teenager in their first year of college is swiftly awakened to the reality of a bigger world, so were we as Americans. There are problems in the world, and those who see themselves as leaders cannot turn a blind eye to them. We must be part of a solution. Not just for our well-being but everyone who calls this world home.
2 comments:
I can identify with the sense of shock and disbelief that your account captures. I was surprised that so many of your peers were unaware of the attack until much later that day. I like the way that you evaluate the meaning of the past event from the perspective of your life today, in your conclusion. Were you in Utah? Why didn't people know about the World Trade Center or Twin Towers? Were they too young to remember the previous bombing attempt in 1993? The account could be tightened in some places and expanded in other places if you wishes to submit it as an op-ed piece for a newspaper next September.
Do you still have that paper your teacher had you write? I wish I had written down my thoughts that day. I still remember the moment, and the feelings I had, but I wish I had something from that day with all of the immediate emotions and questions and thoughts I had. This is a memory that needs to be remembered. Thank you for sharing. This event matured America, did it mature you as well?
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