Six years ago today I woke up in my extra-long twin dorm bed — late, as usual — and turned on the television while I debated whether or not to go to my first class. It was African American Political Thought — cool concept, but I hated the professor. It was a struggle making myself go every Tuesday and Thursday. It turned out I didn’t need to make a decision on that particular day, which I spent the majority of on the floor, trying to get my stupid cell phone to make one successful phone call to somebody —- to my sisters, my mom, my aunts, my uncles — who could tell me that my father, who worked in the Pentagon, was okay.
He was, of course. It took so long for him to contact us because he and the rest of the medical personnel at the Pentagon were immediately dispatched to the scene to help with recovery. He later received a medal of commendation from the Army for doing things that he has never wanted to speak about. I don’t blame him.
Obviously, thousands of people have Sept 11th stories that you can’t wrap up as nicely as I just did mine. Still, for a few years after, I never thought a September 11th would pass that I didn’t just think about that day, but dwell on it. Let it weigh me down. It never helped that the terrorist attacks have never really been given a name. The name is the date. I used to think that everything that happened on this day of the year — babies being born, weddings, and, yes, record releases — would carry the taint of it.
We only have to look at one of the biggest news stories of the day to know that I was wrong. Of course, I’m not really saying that 50 Cent and Kanye West trump the Sept. 11th attacks. But first hip hop heads, then music buffs, then pop culture junkies, then the mainstream media, have been waiting impatiently for September 11th for weeks. And it’s not so they can memorialize the sixth anniversary of a painful event in our past. It’s so they can celebrate a “great day for hip hop music.” And as I read story after story about Curtis, Graduation, and Britney’s career-ending VMA performance, I realize that September 11, 2007 is half over, and I have been dwelling on how many people are going to buy Kanye’s record not on that day I spent on the floor of my dorm room with my useless cell phone in my hand. I remember — I’m sitting here writing a post about it. But I once thought that 9-11 could never be just another ordinary day. I was wrong.
it’s so strange. i was working as an entertainment publicist in 2001, and after 9/11 I felt like my job was so insignificant, and would forever remain insignificant. this is in no small part due to the fact that, like lauren, my father was also working at the pentagon that day (he’s alive and well). although the world has been forever altered by the fall of the twin towers, what happened at the pentagon and the crash of united flight 93, we’ve become a culture that is now, more than ever, driven by mindless celebrity gossip (that, don’t get me wrong, i joyfully take pleasure in). it’s just so strange that i never thought the horror of that day would be even partially erased from the country’s memory. but i guess it does seem like that’s what happened.
My birthday is on this day. So it always affects me adversely, even though I was blessed enough to not have any family members directly or indirectly involved with the tragic outcome of the events. Not a year has gone by since the attacks, where somebody hasn’t put the event, before me. It still bothers me a bit, because I was born long before it ever happened…but nobody will ever look at it as just my birthday. That shows you just how serious it is. Even though the memory of the American audience, is fifteen minutes long (in the general sense) we can still see the ripple of the effects of an event, no matter how much time attempts to distance it, from us.
Happy Birthday Spendi!
As with everythinging life - time moves on. I think there are people who want to keep this day alive, but it really should be given it’s due respect and allowed to rest. Of course we’ll memorialize it like we do Pearl Harbor forever, but so many negative political issues are attached to 9/11 that it won’t quite have the same resonnance as Pearl Harbor. Obviously, I am speaking from the point of view of a non-New Yorker - but for many people today is just another day.
Thank you for the happy birthday.
Happy Belated B-Day, Spendi!
I was on my way to my bowling class at MSU. I watched tv while I was getting ready and saw what had happened. Like many other things that happen and are shown on the news, I half-assed paid attention to it. I got to the building where my bowling class was and saw a large group of people standing and watching a tv in the hallway. I was trying to figure out what happened but didn’t until I got downstairs to the alley where there were tv monitors for us to watch. I just remember watching the first building fall right before the class began. It was terrible.
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