nearly three months now, and it's still surreal. . .

[Sequoia]

Tonight's December 6th, 2001. It's been nearly 3 months since 9-11. . . 9-11. That date, it'll always mean the one disaster that we had. The one incredible, unreal event, like something out of the newest hollywood blockbuster. I watched on the live feed as the second plane hit the tower, and the pentagon. And I fell to my knees as the towers fell.

The shock still hasn't sunk in.

I'm listening to a half-hour long recording of a news talkshow, live from about the time I tuned into the news. Hearing it is like re-living it. I still can't belive it's over. I still can't belive it happened in teh first place.

I feel, whenever I think about it, that I'm lost in a surreal happenings. Like this isn't real, yet it's so incredibly real I want to cry. I just. . . cannot. I can't get through this shock. So many people. Huge landmarks. Trust in others. Dreams and loved ones. All taken outwith one fell swoop. And the realization of a long-anticipated nightmare.

But I still feel as though it's a nightmare. . . that perhaps I'll wake up. I know I won't, but. . . that's the feeling it gives me. That surreality. Like a bad dream that won't go away.

Am I the only one? Are any of you having trouble getting this to register as "real" in your mind? I just keep staring like it's the first time.

A thousand nightmares couldn't prepare me for this. I don't think anything could've prepared anyone for this.

When will the world be "normal" again? Or will it ever?

[rainmaker]

3 months..... Yeah. And for the millions of people that lost someone close to them on that horrible day, those three months havn't even begun to scratch the surface of the pain that they will no doubt go through for a very long time.

There is someone that I love dearly that lives very close to that city. If she would have been harmed in any way, my anger and thirst for vengeance would only be outweighed by my grief and fear.

(This is a very touchy subject for me, as I hold the value of all life VERY high. So if I seem a bit "on the offensive side", please forgive me.)

This is a sad time (of year) for so many.... may She give them strength.


rainmaker

[Pheonix]

I understand the feeling, nothing is ingrained in mu mind. The whole thing is a series of slow motion clips that still don't feel totally real.
The whole world changed for me, and i know that I won't look at being "safe" anywhere again in the same way.

[Sequoia]

I just drew this. . .

one angel is covering it's eyes, one is holding a baby that died, and one is staring shocked covering it's mouth as it watches people fall. . .

I'm very sorry if that offends anyone. . . I just had to draw. . . something. . . . *sighs*

[talamh]

Yes... it was a truly horrific experience.... But i ask people to also think of the innocent lives being lost in Afghanistan and Pakistan and other refugee camps. In the paper yesterday was a photo of a father in a refugee camp in Afghanistan closing the eyes of his dead two-month old child who had died overnight of cold and starvation. The father was burying the child. That child is also the innocent victim of senseless violence.

The loss of innocent loved ones is heart-wrenching where ever it happens. We are fortunate to live in such an abundant and - Sept. 11 notwithstanding - relatively safe part of the world. bb talamh

[Illuminatus]

Everything returned to "normal" for me in about a month.

When you think about it, 5000 people isn't a whole lot. 100,000 died in those horrible earthquakes in India a year and a half ago... that's like 20 times the disaster that the US saw. Don't forget Hiroshima & Nagasaki, that was another 100,000 people either killed or radiated. And the Holocaust claimed 11 million, which boils down to roughly 2,200 WTC's worth of humanity, all burned up in ovens. And it's likely that up to a million Afghanis aren't going to survive the winter, that's 2000 WTC's.

I think you need to take this disaster into perspective, Puma. Yeah, it really sucked to have all those people die, but that's what happens to people - they die. Every single one of them, sooner or later. The Media is STILL force-feeding us post 9-11 events, and in part it is they who are responsible for all the hype. Just turn it off, and go on with your life.

I actually managed to get some work done on the 11th. So did a few of the other people in my Office. We have records of bug reports dated the 11th. Yeah, most of us went home early to think things over, and maybe we were just working so we could focus our mind on something productive... but the fact is, life goes on. If you can't do in three months what I managed to do in about a week (go on with your life), then you should really talk to one of the peer counselors, because there comes a time when you've got to let your skin harden a bit, shrug off the horror of the world, and get back to living in it.

- Ill

[Wyrdsister]

For me the initial shock is over. I am no less horrifed by the events of 9-11, but I think my brain has accepted that they indeed happened and rebuilding time is at hand. In fact, "rebuilding" (if not the Towers then a normal life) almost began before night fell on New York on Sept. 11th. While recovery efforts were in full swing people were already talking about "where do we go from here?"; "how do we deal with this tragedy?"

I agree with Ill about the media cramming 9-11 stuff down our throats. My boyfriend's mother is still in a crisis mode about 9-11 and I really think it's because she's tuned into CNN 24-7. She's been in a panic for almost these 3 straight months - I'm getting worried about her health! CNN is constantly plastered with "America Strikes Back" and "America's New War." Hell, I'd be in a panic if I saw that all the time!! 8O The first time I saw the "America Strikes Back" tag line, I almost scoffed my sinuses out on the table - they're stealing a Star Wars movie title!!! :p

I'm also more aware of the absolute tragedy going on in Afghanistan right now. Many thousands of displaced and oppressed Afghanis are faced with the prospect of freezing or starving to death this winter. Many more people could stand to die than died on 9-11. I'm worried that people here in North America forget that (or just aren't aware of it in the first place). The entire 9-11 Tragedy is truly world-wide and did not end at the collapsing of two tall towers. It's still being played out in the slow, merciless deaths of more innocent people in a dry desert nation half a world away. It may have started with "one fell swoop," but it's sure not ending that way.

Okay, okay, end of rambling!

Wyrdsister

[Sequoia]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Everything returned to "normal" for me in about a month.

When you think about it, 5000 people isn't a whole lot. 100,000 died in those horrible earthquakes in India a year and a half ago... that's like 20 times the disaster that the US saw. Don't forget Hiroshima & Nagasaki, that was another 100,000 people either killed or radiated. And the Holocaust claimed 11 million, which boils down to roughly 2,200 WTC's worth of humanity, all burned up in ovens. And it's likely that up to a million Afghanis aren't going to survive the winter, that's 2000 WTC's.

I think you need to take this disaster into perspective, Puma. Yeah, it really sucked to have all those people die, but that's what happens to people - they die. Every single one of them, sooner or later. The Media is STILL force-feeding us post 9-11 events, and in part it is they who are responsible for all the hype. Just turn it off, and go on with your life.

I actually managed to get some work done on the 11th. So did a few of the other people in my Office. We have records of bug reports dated the 11th. Yeah, most of us went home early to think things over, and maybe we were just working so we could focus our mind on something productive... but the fact is, life goes on. If you can't do in three months what I managed to do in about a week (go on with your life), then you should really talk to one of the peer counselors, because there comes a time when you've got to let your skin harden a bit, shrug off the horror of the world, and get back to living in it.

- Ill

'lumie- Yes, there are far worse disasters out there. And I am "over it", in most senses. I just had been listening to/looking at a few reports from the day it happened, and it got to me. It's still very surreal to me, that all the way on the other side of the country, shit happened and things will never be the same again. And that shit is happening on the other side of the world, as well. I hate all of this crap. All of it. I don't even bother watching the news anymore, because all you hear is "afghanistan-this" and "taliban-that." I"m sick of it.

People are dying. I think that's the most important part. And almost nobody is doing anything to change it; very few even seem to care (who are in a place to do something about it). This world is turning into hell. I wonder how long it will last.

So forgive me for my "dribble", I just had to get it out. Trust in the fact that I"m not one of those old ladies sobbing over it every moment and running church drives to collect laundry lint for soldiers or something like that. It just hit me last night.

ttyl,
Puma

[Chibi-Fallon]

Americans kinda suck in the ways that we won't wake up until someone blows us up. Peal Harbor, American said it was "Europe's problem" before we were bombed. This was the "Middle East's problem" until the attacks.
I was sick of 9-11 before it was over. This world has been hellish for a very long time but us in the U.S. and other 1st world countries aren't experiencing it. Hardly anyone opens their eyes to see that the reasons they hate us, some of them are pretty legit. We're spoiled, pampered, babies, and the richest country in the world. They have a right to hate us. I'd hate us if I lived there too. Bill Gates has a million cars and houses but I can't even eat.
It's easier to kill someone if you don't know anything about them. Sure we all hate Osama but who really know all that much about him? We don't want his side of the story. We're just supposed to believe that he's an evil evil man. Then it's easier to kill him. He isn't really a person then, just an icon. Who know maybe some of us will rejoice in the streets when he dies. Just like some countries half way around the world did on 9-11...

[story]

surreal was a good choice of words.
somewhere at some point the "leader" of the surrealist movement, andre breton, made the comment that the most surreal thing in the world is a man emerging from a crowd with a gun. Probably the most intellegent thing he ever said.

[MammaStar]

I could get kind of back to normal, they found my co-workers brother. He was at the top of the North tower. They found him yesterday. Just when her life and his family's life was returning to some sense of sanity. They found him. Feelings of loss are brought right back to the surface. Rage. Sadness. But there is also closure. I'm happy they found him, because it's very hard for them to morn without really knowing. Now they do, and it could ease their minds some. I just know, when I heard earlier today (met up with another co-worker at the grocery store who told me) I felt sad all over again. Then flicking channels I saw the footage of the planes. So I came here.

It's not easy, but we will get by. We will go on, and hopefully we'll catch the idiot who did this (i use the term "idiot" only because all my other names are not family friendly).