Then/Now: Six Years After 9/11

It's 5:30 AM on September 11, 2001. I groggily get out of bed, take the traditional morning pee, and go to the kitchen to eat some Honey Nut Cheerios. I notice the TV is on, but I don't pay attention to it--gotta get ready for school. Besides, it's just a regular day and I'm only 12 years old. What could possibly happen?

 

It's 6:15 AM on September 11, 2007. I groggily get out of bed (some things never change), take the traditional morning pee, and go wake my Mom up. Come on, gotta get to work. She nods, sleepily, and starts getting ready. My job done, I flop back into my bed, put my blanket over me, and go back to sleep.

 

It's 6:30 AM in 2001. I'm dressed, clean and have fresh-feeling, shiny teeth. I'm ready to start this new day. I look around for Mom, to tell her I'm about to walk to school, when I see her in the living room, sitting on the footrest, watching the television. That's odd, I think, she usually watches TV in her room, and she still gets ready for work. Yet there she is, starring at the television. I ask her if something is wrong. A second later she looks at me, telling me that two planes have hit the World Trade Center towers in New York. She cunningly says it in a way that it seems like something fairly normal--some sort of accident, maybe some malfunctioning planes, just a sad accident. It isn't until later in the day when I realize that she was holding back tears.

 

On September 11, 2001, I did not realize what the day truly was until I walk into my homeroom. The TV, perched on some weird crane thing that I could never figure out how it was made, isn't on the off-by-several-minutes clock, but on CNN. Some sit quietly, for the first time since they've been in the class; others cry, openly; but everyone watched. Our homeroom teacher, a humongous woman that usually looks like a strong brick wall looks as though she could crumble at any moment, only keeping together so as to not disturb the children as much as they already were.

 

I wake up at 9:30 on September 11, 2007. I slip on some jeans and slippers and eat some cereal while watching TV. I pay close attention to the news--whether I'm now more aware of the world around me or since I don't have school today, I don't know. I'm actually surprised they have any news going on--I assumed there would only be memorial blocks and repeating the same footage over and over and over. MSNBC was only talking about some Senator too stupid to solicit gay sex in the bathroom instead of privately, where his party would protect him and a grandmother defending her daughter for leaving her granddaughter in a 100 degree car for two hours. FOX News were mixing note words about 9/11 and vilifying the Iraq War Report. CNN was so full of commercials I couldn't even see any news. The local channels I didn't even pay attention to, because they're only morning "reporters" on caffeine and Crystal Meth more focused on entertainment then objective reporting.

 

So, it has been six years since the attack. Have things changed? We're in two countries because of it, fighting a war against the way we were attacked. We're trying to fight terrorism, and yet more and more there are stories of failed attempts of terrorism at the country. The man who's claimed responsibility for the attack is still out there, and has made more videos then R. Kelly has made singles.

 

If any good can be put from that day, this could be it: without it, there would be even less members of my generation who don't pay attention to the world around them, calmly eating their cereal in the morning as the country is under attack. Without this attack, I wonder if I would ever have become the individual I am today, one that cares about the liberty and the freedoms we have, fully understanding it instead of just memorizing it from a textbook. It could be said that it shouldn't take such a shock to the system to realize this, but at least it has happened.

 

I often wonder, even if six years has physically passed, the country as a whole has not. The fear and uncertainty of that day reverberated so thoroughly through our being that we can never shake off the fear, and those in charge don't mind at all.

 

Fear can make people hate change. Fear can make people blindly trust those who say that they will protect them. Fear can make people sacrifice anything so that they will no longer have that thing they fear.

 

I often wonder if that was our attacker's intent of the first place.

Reviews

[C Lee]

Your message is conveyed quite eloquently. I admire your honesty and personal views, as they differ from every other piece i've read today. You compare the two days and force us to take another look at the big picture. Have we changed? Some days I think not. We will never forget that day, and your statements are quite clear why we should not. Very well written, thank you for your views as they open many eyes.

[Fantasyfairy]

I understand what you are saying, and I have to say that I agree with it all. That day marked a lot of lives, and not just Americans, but most of the world. Sad, but true. The terriosts knew what they were doing that day, and they succeeded, not just in the killing, but in the fear they installed into so many people, and that will never go away. XX

[Marie]

A nice tribute piece. Great job, Jared.

[Melissa Powell]

It's a great entry. Thanks for taking the time.

[Jay]

September 11, 2001 - I break my clarinet in band class when my mom pulls me out early. The school buys me a new one because they thought I was truly mad that the terrorists blew up the towers; I was mad because I had to go see my dad. My mom takes me home, I get on the computer and make a new neopets account.

September 11, 2007 - I celebrate 6 years of owning a neopets account. I look at a half dead baby killed because of a video game. I wait to hear news about Graduation.

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

I understand what you are saying.. i also agree with you.. that was a horrific day for those killed and all of America, the world..

As for being prepared for this should it, pray it doesn't happen again, we are not.. Katrina proved that beyond a doubt in my mind and where is Bin Ladin?
He needs to go hunting with Dick Cheney!

A nice tribute to those who perished that dreadful day.

Chloe
xoxo