9/11

Eight years ago today we were attacked in an unprecidented and very successful way. No other attack on anything in the US had this kind of body count, or damage.

I learned about it shortly before 7 am. Someone called me and said, "turn on your TV." Bleary-eyed I did so and saw one of the twin towers burning. Then I saw the second tower get hit. It was shocking and unimaginable on so many levels. I got ready for work and put a tape in the VCR to record the news. I listened to it on the radio, but I wanted to see it later. I still have the tape, and I never looked at it...

While working that day it was strange seeing the sky devoid of planes. And a woman I didn't know in an elevator of a building I was in started talking to me, "Isn't it awful? How do you fight this?" I didn't know what to say. I agreed it was awful. And as far as fighting it, well, I figured we'd do something.

Work that day sent me out to buy an American flag for the window. I don't know, but I think it still might be there at Gartner. I wanted to do something like give blood. Not that it would do anything for the wounded in NYC, but I felt pretty helpless. Also, a friend had moved to NYC 9 months before so people were trying to find out if Jen Boutell was okay. She was, but it wasn't until the afternoon that this was learned.

The events of 9/11 made me thougthful and weirded me out for a long time. Played out as a fatalistic mood swing. 9/11 broke the invincible shell America had. We recovered, lost some liberties, are in two wars, and are no longer an invincible superpower.