September 05, 2003

Slap my face & call it an epiphany

Well, my clock radio blared off at the same time as usual this morning and awoke me telling me I've got to do something that I have no way of doing, and it pains me that I can't. Yes, here was Charley Pride saying to me: You've got to kiss an angel Good Morning and love her like the Devil when you get back home. However, that requires an angel, and I am still searching for an angel. How depressing.

Then I visit michele, as usual, and find her making a statement like this:

Have we changed? Sure we have. Mostly, our children have changed. We may not notice it now, but we will later. Their world is different than it was two years ago. Their future is different.
Of course, she is talking about the post 9/11 world we now live in. I was just wondering, though, is this event less traumatic than the post-bomb world of my youth. I mean are they making little kids crawl up under their desks in preparation of nuclear attacks? Do children fear seeing the flash of a nuclear explosion? It seems those fears have greatly subsided in the modern world.

I think maybe older Americans were not as traumatized by 9/11 as were the children who had grown up with some sense of security. I suspect that people in my age group, while appalled, were already aware that you can never prepare for tragedy or the senseless destruction of large groups of people through the wanton acts of other people.

Posted by notGeorge at September 5, 2003 08:47 AM
Comments

Very profound.

Posted by: Susie at September 5, 2003 08:52 AM

Exactly, Tig. I grew up with air raid drills and fallout shelters. My kids are a product of a post-cold war world. On September 11, 2001, their sense of safety was shattered.

Posted by: michele at September 5, 2003 08:54 AM

I think it's somewhat a question of proximity. I was definitely more traumatized by the Challenger explosion in 1986 (in junior high at the time, lived in the NASA Area of Houston) than I was about the 9/11 attacks, although the latter definitely was a more important and history-shaping event.

Posted by: Norbizness at September 5, 2003 11:12 AM

I think proximity is a major contributor to the effect that the 9/11 tragedy had on our society. While everyone was affected in some way, those closer were most likely affected more dramatically and will probably have stronger emotional effects on the anniversary next week. I personally still look both ways (for planes) when crossing any of the NY bridges and always leave a huge gap between me and the car in front of me when going through the tunnels.

Psycho Dad

Posted by: Psycho Dad at September 5, 2003 06:18 PM

Hm, am I the only one to have been just as traumatized by 9/11 as I was about both shuttle disasters? In their own ways each disaster changed me. Though I will admit that 9/11 really solidified a lot of my current ways of thinking about the world.

I wasn't alive in the time of "duck and cover" and under-the-table drills. But my parents--especially my father--used to tell me all about them. Just the thought of nuclear death raining down from above made my blood freeze. Still does...

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at September 5, 2003 08:34 PM