September 11, 2001. 6:55 AM Pacific Time.
My day began with a panicked phone call from my mother in Detroit. “We’re under attack!” came the voice over the phone. Still half asleep after working a closing shift the night before, I groggily turned on the TV. The images on the screen got rid of any sleepiness I still had. The World Trade Center was on fire, an image like something from a comic book, not reality. A few minutes later, one of the buildings fell down. I remember being disappointed that the Twin Towers were taken out of existence before I had ever had the chance to see them with my own eyes (I’ve still never been to New York City). It wouldn’t hit me until later in the day what really happened. It was still a normal day. I woke up, made breakfast, caught the bus to work, and put in six hours as a grocery store cashier. Most people were too shocked, too numb to really comprehend what had happened that day.
Even though I was fortunate to not know anyone who died in the September 11 attacks, that morning ten years ago is etched into my brain permanently. Back then, our country was operating as one, unified by the emotions of sorrow and revenge mixed with hope. Today, I hardly recognize the United States as the same country I lived in back then. That it has changed is obvious. The question is, has it been for better or for worse?
It’s hard to argue that we’re better off. The spirit of cooperation that swept through our government is too distant to even be a memory. The ongoing military engagement helped drive our country into the worst economic shape it’s been in since the Great Depression. Air travel is no longer an enjoyable experience. Michael Jackson died. Casey Anthony lived.
Still, we’re safer now from future terrorist attacks, right? Osama Bin Laden is dead, the Taliban have been decimated, and the enemy regimes in Iraq and Libya have been toppled. Yet, there have been subsequent attempts at terrorist attacks on American soil. The threat hasn’t gone away. It likely never will.
That is perhaps the biggest legacy that the September 11 attacks left behind. Fear of another attack has changed how we view the world, as well as how we live in it. The words “Muslim” and “Arab” are now nearly synonymous with “terrorist”. We willingly submit ourselves to the most invasive search procedures outside of prison walls every time we step onto an airplane (and we can’t take lotion on there either), and by all accounts these searches are far better at harassing everyday citizens than preventing attempts at terrorism. Hell, we had two major attacks thwarted by just dumb luck; these plans had progressed well past the point where anyone could have done anything to stop them.
This is the part of the blog post where I’m supposed to write some kind of ending with a profound point or a message that I want to leave behind to everyone who reads this. Truth is, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I really just wanted to share two things with anyone who reads this, those being my memories of that life-changing morning and how stupid the Transportation Security Agency’s existence is. I guess you guys could, I dunno, make up your own ending and walk away inspired all the same?
Actually, that’s a good idea. Make your own ending… make your own future. Shit will happen; don’t let the TSA or the terrorists dictate the way you live your lives. That’s what it really means to be American. That’s the freedom that we stand for. That’s what we also need to remember today.
