The events of September 11, 2001, in the U.S. seem like a lifetime ago. The way the world operates and the public consciousness have changed so much in the interim that it is hard to believe that a mere five years have passed.
September 11, 2001, was my first day attending college. Listening to my personal radio on the train, I heard about a plane crashing into one of the towers and I naturally assumed it was caused by pilot error. When a second crash came soon after, I was in shock.
I immediately understood the scope of the attack because I had just visited the World Trade Centre the previous May. I had marvelled at its size; standing at its base and craning my head as far back as I could, I was still unable to see the top.
Ridiculous but true: one of my first thoughts after hearing the beginnings of the collapse of the WTC was, "I never had a chance to get to the top." During our visit to the WTC, my friends and I were too cheap to pay admission into the observation deck and yet too uncouth to be allowed into the restaurant on the 107th floor. I wondered if the rude concierge who barred us from entry on two separate occassions had escaped safely.
However, my full understanding of the severity of the attacks was delayed because my sole source for information was the radio. Without access to television or the internet at home, I listened to CBC Radio day and night to keep up with the latest news. Yet, nothing brought home the chaos and terrifying details like the video footage I saw days after it was first captured.
I now understand the apathy that many disasters are greeted with when media coverage consists of a brief paragraph in the newspaper or a quick mention on the news. Without images, or video, most people just don't have a clear picture on which to build understanding.
Then there is the problem that comes about with an overload of images. I worry that future generations will not understand the impact of 9/11 because they will be so accustomed to seeing the usual images asociated with the disaster. The rawest footage featuring the most grotesque detail came out in the days following 9/11: a lone figure falling down the side of the building, body parts in the rubble, etc. Within weeks, much of the imagery was sanitized and neutered. The twin towers on fire as an image risks becoming synonymous with the Mona Lisa or various war memorials: packed full of meaning for those who remember but remote shorthand for something meaningful for others.
What were you doing on September 11, 2001?
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3 comments:
Woke up to Howard Stern talking about the planes. Went back to sleep. C'mon, it was Howard Stern! No way it could have been real! Then I saw the news and donated to Red Cross.
My secret shame is that I slept through the 9/11 attacks. I was in university at the time, and since I only had afternoon classes that day, I woke up at around 11am and turned on my television.
It was already on CNN, and in my half-asleep daze, I heard the phrase: "We are now looking at the thick plume of black smoke rising from where the World Trade Center USED to be standing."
I was on my way to work and heard about the first plane hitting the tower and thought "Wow, what a bizarre accident". I rushed into work and told my co-workers about it and we started listening to the radio. When the second plane crashed we all knew that this was no accident.
Without access to television we relied on radio and some images from the internet but the shock was still there. The most tragic moment for me was when the towers started coming down, heard through the radio it felt sanitized but when we saw the images on the internet it brought the tragedy to life.
I was with Celestialspeedster at the World Trade Center that May, I also thought "Wow, these buildings are huge!" as I lay on the ground looking up. I have a deep regret that we didn't get a chance to go up to the top and now we never will.
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