Happy Holidays!
At least, that's what people in the far distant future will be saying about today. In a couple of generations, the true meaning of 9/11 will be lost, just as the true meaning of Christmas has been lost to the greater masses today.
In a few generations, screenings at the airport will be considered to be the most normal thing in the world. I have already embraced it, as a frequent flier from Boston (MA) to Minneapolis (MN) (and sometimes Boston, MA to Owls Head, ME). I have no choice, of course, but at least this time, my limp allowed me to get through security extra quickly. That, and the pain medication. I walked through, using a wooden cane, cynical about everything, somewhat unshaven, and Vicodin-ed up to my eyeballs. Yes, I did a perfect imitation of Dr. Gregory House.
But I digress. In a few short decades, 9/11 will be just another day that shows up large and forgotten in history textbooks, only studied in high school and college, while elementary and middle school students look on in confusion. WE were in elementary school when this happened! I remember the day quite well, when my father successfully alienated our family from the entire state of New York by cracking jokes about the Twin Towers and how "plan B was to plow up Main Street, which would've actually killed far more people".
I cannot believe I just typed that. My 9/11 jokes are far less sensitive than that.
1: I am Bostonian. This means that, while New York is my sworn enemy due to baseball teams, I still feel some kinship to them. I am from Nashua, NH, where BAE is headquartered. It makes for a nice nuclear target as well as a strategic terrorist target. We knew, that when someone managed to get the US, it would be either us or the New Yorkers. So, when the twin towers fell, we were outwardly gloomy, and inwardlygleeful. We were saying "YES! NOT ME!"
But enough about that. I digress again. I feel the same way about 9/11 that my grandfather feels about WWII: I lived through it, and I am witnessing the slow degradation of national memory of the event itself. Soon, it will be another spot on the calendar that people just look at and move along with their lives.
***UPDATE***
Found a good quote from (and I kid you not) the facebook group "Ethical Reporters Against Faux News"
On multiple occasions I have quipped that St. Olaf College is the MIT of the Midwest. I forgot to take the fact that St. Olaf isn't the hotbed of engineers and nerds that MIT is.
We all know what happened ten years ago today and remember it vividly, but what many do not remember is that on September 11th 2001 Hurricane Erin was right off from New York City in the Atlantic Ocean.
At least, that's what people in the far distant future will be saying about today. In a couple of generations, the true meaning of 9/11 will be lost, just as the true meaning of Christmas has been lost to the greater masses today.
In a few generations, screenings at the airport will be considered to be the most normal thing in the world. I have already embraced it, as a frequent flier from Boston (MA) to Minneapolis (MN) (and sometimes Boston, MA to Owls Head, ME). I have no choice, of course, but at least this time, my limp allowed me to get through security extra quickly. That, and the pain medication. I walked through, using a wooden cane, cynical about everything, somewhat unshaven, and Vicodin-ed up to my eyeballs. Yes, I did a perfect imitation of Dr. Gregory House.
But I digress. In a few short decades, 9/11 will be just another day that shows up large and forgotten in history textbooks, only studied in high school and college, while elementary and middle school students look on in confusion. WE were in elementary school when this happened! I remember the day quite well, when my father successfully alienated our family from the entire state of New York by cracking jokes about the Twin Towers and how "plan B was to plow up Main Street, which would've actually killed far more people".
I cannot believe I just typed that. My 9/11 jokes are far less sensitive than that.
1: I am Bostonian. This means that, while New York is my sworn enemy due to baseball teams, I still feel some kinship to them. I am from Nashua, NH, where BAE is headquartered. It makes for a nice nuclear target as well as a strategic terrorist target. We knew, that when someone managed to get the US, it would be either us or the New Yorkers. So, when the twin towers fell, we were outwardly gloomy, and inwardly
But enough about that. I digress again. I feel the same way about 9/11 that my grandfather feels about WWII: I lived through it, and I am witnessing the slow degradation of national memory of the event itself. Soon, it will be another spot on the calendar that people just look at and move along with their lives.
***UPDATE***
Found a good quote from (and I kid you not) the facebook group "Ethical Reporters Against Faux News"
We all know what happened ten years ago today and remember it vividly, but what many do not remember is that on September 11th 2001 Hurricane Erin was right off from New York City in the Atlantic Ocean.
Henry,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I like the new format for your blog because it is less cluttered and easier to read.
Second, at the outset of this post you make an important observation about the nature of collective memory and the difficulty in sustaining the intensity of a generation's experience into subsequent generations. Of course declaring a holiday and requiring, formally or informally, observations is intended to do that, but we know that memory fades. Observance of Pearl Harbor Day might be a closer parallel, however.
LDL