Picturesque VIII
I said once before that I had witnessed “two sides of humanity I rarely ever see; a deeply festering evil, and a high, proud ‘good’. ” I believe I must give these reactions their own passage.
The first, and most obvious, is the deeply festering evil. The evil that ended thousands of lives that day. The evil that danced happily in the streets, passing out candy to those who rejoiced in the deaths of innocent people. The evil that showed its insensitive, ugly head later in the day.
We already know of the evil within the doomed planes, of the evil that showed itself in the streets overseas, but do many know of the third evil I put to the light? Alas, it is true; I saw callous, insensitive people within my country. One gripped about how the media would not stop their endless, continuous footage of the doomed Towers, of the doomed planes. I cannot blame the country’s media for its coverage of the attack. The media accomplished a great many things that day: it brought the country together with its tale of doom; as the world screeched to a standstill in New York, the people of the West and Mid-West watched and listened, standing next to those in New York, mourning with them. The media riled us all with its movie of destruction; I know few people who do not wish for some sort of revenge. Most of all, the media was itself, continuously showing us and telling us old news for hours. In this way I am thankful for the media; without them, many questions would stay unanswered (not to say all questions have been answered). And I expected such coverage; and when it became too much I turned off the television; a simple press if a button and this person’s gripes need not have blossomed.
I witnessed another version of insensitivity. One other person had the nerve to demand the rest in my company to “get over it”, adding that he mourned for an hour and was fine. How can I get over the deaths of thousands of innocent people? How can I get over the sorrow I feel for my friend, whose aunt breathed her last in the Twin Towers? How can I get over the fact that the innocence of my childhood has disappeared, crumbling to the ground much like the Towers? I told this person such, and he countered with claiming that he must not be human. I now wish I had agreed with him.
I can understand a wish to step away from the tragedy of that day, but to outrightly demand to “get over it”, and so soon after such a devastating blow to our nation’s psyche? I will remember this day, and those that perished, and as I write these words I know these souls will never be forgotten.
I have spoken about the evils enough. No cloud is without a silver lining, faint as it may be. Some may think the Internet a bad place to find friends, but I have forged four wonderful relationships thanks to it. As soon as I could, I logged onto my messaging services to see if such friends were well. One lives in Pennsylvania, one in Maryland, one in Kentucky, and one in Puerto Rico. My three US friends are alive, well and accounted for, and all four were happy to see my name appear on their “buddy lists”. To see that these people, whom I have never met in person, care so much for my well being, was a very heartening experience.
And later I attended another place that was still reeling from the disaster; I only learned later that most other members were Canadians. I smiled at my computer screen as such people relayed information to their friends about where the nearest blood clinic was. Again, I was heartened.
Another day has passed; more buildings have crumbled; victims have been found amid the rubble, both dead and alive. The face of America is disfigured, but the heart continues to pump its blood. This tragedy will be remembered, but we as a people will overcome this hardship. We will prevail; we will triumph.
