Left to my own devices

September 11, 2001 was also a Tuesday. Hopefully today will be far less memorable. Tuesdays tend to be fairly innocuous. Not a dreaded a Monday, a hump day Wednesday, an anticipatory Thursday, or a fun Friday. Tuesdays are supposed to be fairly routine during the traditional work week. People certainly aren't supposed to lose their lives, violently, en masse. Yet, that is what happened seventeen years ago today, a day that no one who lived through it will be likely to forget. That Tuesday began just as seemingly innocent as this Tuesday. When it was over, so many were dead, others in mourning, a nation sent reeling, and those of us -- the supremely vast majority -- who'd survived the day were left in a state of fear, despair and even anger. I remember going to bed that night thankful to be alive, but also frightened for how long that might be for. The day had, among other things, been a reminder of how quickly and violently life can be ended.

National tragedies that occur during one's conscious lifetime always seem to gave greater impact than those that are often referred to as historical. This isn't some great revelation. Living through a tragedy, bearing witness to it, lends a deeper resonance to it in our hearts and minds. Such is the case for the September 11th terrorist attacks. Many of us, myself included, were alive and aware when they happened. It makes today's anniversary even more poignant. December 7th, 1941 holds obvious significance as the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. And yet, while I take note of and respect the observance of its anniversary, there is a sense of disconnect. It is a date in history. I have no emotional reference point for it, other than the general feelings conjured up when thinking what it must have been like to live through it, and for all that followed. On a personal level, September 11th is different.

It is a morning not unlike many others. Ashley, whom I have been living with now for eight months in Bloomington, has already gone to work when I rise. Shower, get dressed, have some breakfast, the usual. I go to the job, which is to be a sales associate at Circuit City. I've been with the company for four years, and the transfer from Champaign to Bloomington hasn't been as smooth as I'd hoped for. Not really connecting with the other employees. Getting tired of the grind. These are the mundane thoughts of the morning. Tuesday morning. Another Tuesday morning like any other. Arriving at work shortly before 8:00AM, nothing seems out of the ordinary. It's an electronics store, so sometimes the TVs are on before the store opens, quietly humming in the background as we get things ready for the day. Not this morning. They are, for the moment, turned off. Instead, there's the usual drudgery of setting-up displays, cleaning, perhaps one of the morning train...

September 11th, 2001 was a terrible day. Ten years later, it is being remembered all across the country (and, one hopes, across much of the world). This is as it should be. We must never forget the human-on-human acts of violence that have littered our history. But we must also learn from them. Let's hope that today, while we bow our heads in memory of horrid events and of lives lost, we also remember the lessons from that dark day.