9/11, ten years after.

[Hippie Bowman]

I was working as an engineer at SDI, at the university of South Tampa in Florida.  I like to listen to talk radio as I work, so heard the news bulletin immediately.  All of us went into the breakroom, and watched in horror as the 2nd plane plunged into the towers.  So Sad.  All the hate in the world.  Way can there not be peace?  Why do we have to fight each other.  After all we will all leave this world one day with what we came with.  Nothing!  Sigh!  I will never, never understand!  Bring to mind a song by Depeche Mode.  I can't understand, what makes a man, hate another man, Help me understand!



Peace!

[Deltango Vale]

"I can't understand, what makes a man, hate another man, Help me understand!"

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My team versus your team, my tribe versus your tribe, my religion versus your religion, my community versus your community, my customs versus your customs, my beliefs versus your beliefs, my morality versus your morality - because my team/tribe/religion/morality is right and yours is wrong. Now you know why I fight tooth and nail to prevent this crap from entering Second Life.

[Melita Magic]

I had insomnia, as usual. Just focusing on what's pertinent here, I'll say I was watching television and saw it happen "live."  I of course was in shock like everyone else.

I phoned friends in NYC. When I finally heard back from one he told me he had seen it happen from his car, and once he realized what he'd seen he cried.

No one who saw the footage all that day of the plane crash, the flames, the smoke, buildings falling, people running for their lives, and then people jumping from the building just so their loved ones could find a body...will ever forget it.

My hope is that on 9/11, people will think of the human aspect, and forget politics entirely. At least, for that one day. Let that be the legacy forevermore.

If you lost a loved one that day, please know the thoughts and prayers of millions are with you.

[Storm Pixelmaid]

I was getting ready for work as was my husband.  He was watching t.v. and I was in the bathroom.  I heard him yell to me, an airplane hit the WTC.  My reaction was disbelief.  I think I said "not another one" referring to a small plane that had crashed into a building a few weeks before.  I went into the bedroom to watch the t.v. with my husband, still thinking it was a small aircraft. Shortly after that after that the second plane flew into tower 2.  At that moment, it suddenly struck me that this was a deliberate attack.  I stood transfixed, watching the news.  I couldn't wrap my mind around it.   It didn't seem real.  How could it be real, I thought.  I finished getting ready for work, barely removing my eyes from the t.v. screen, as if in a trance.  Luckily my work was close by.  Five minutes.  At some point I saw the first tower fall.  I'm not sure if it was at work when I saw it, because when I got to work, the office manager had brought in a t.v. and everyone was gathered around watching.  I know when they reported people were jumping, the magnitude of the whole thing, the sheer tradgedy of it started to filter through my shock and disbelief.  The towers falling was like watching a sci-fi movie almost, except it was so tragic, so painful to watch and think about.  Hours later, it finally sank in, what a tradgedy, what a terrible tradgedy, what devastation had happened that morning.  For days after, I went from rage to grief and back again.  It colored my mood for months afterward.  I was horribly depressed and saddened.  I'll never forget.  To this day, I get tears in my eyes thinking of the lives lost, the families losing loved ones who did nothing wrong that day other than going to work and make a living just as every other American does every day of their lives.  May we ever be spared from a repeat of such an event in our history again.

[Argus Collingwood]

Harry got up Dressed all in black Went down to the station And he never came back They found his clothing Scattered somewhere down the track And he won't be down on Wall Street in the morning 

He had a home The love of a girl But men get lost sometimes As years unfold One day he crossed some line And he was too much in this world But I guess it doesn't matter anymore 

In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute Things can get pretty strange In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute 

Lying here in the darkness I hear the sirens wail Somebody going to emergency Somebody's going to jail If you find somebody to love in this world You better hang on tooth and nail The wolf is always at the door 

In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute Things can get a little strange In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute 

And in these days When darkness falls early And people rush home To the ones they love You better take a fool's advice And take care of your own One day they're here; Next day they're gone 

I pulled my coat around my shoulders And took a walk down through the park The leaves were falling around me The groaning city in the gathering dark On some solitary rock A desperate lover left his mark, he said "Baby I've changed, Please come back".

What the head makes cloudy The heart makes very clear The days were so much brighter In the time when she was here But I know there's somebody somewhere Make these dark clouds disappear Until that day, I have to believe I believe, I believe 

In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute You can get out of the rain In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute

[Pamela Galli]

The teacher across the hall left her room and beckoned to me -- her husband had called to tell her a plane had hit the WTC. I was stunned,  went back in the room and told my 4th graders.

Then she came across the hall again...

And I nearly went mad all day because I had no access to a TV.

[WilhiamTestGrid]

09/11/2011, 08:46 EDT

I'm somebody anywhere now.

A decade after the 11th of September 2001 I'm watching from afar again.

I heard a most beautiful execution of a national anthem I have ever heard.

I see dignity all over.

I am silent for a minute.

I'm with them eventhough they can never tell.

 

 

 

 

[valerie Inshan]

:smileysad:

[WilhiamTestGrid]

I know ... :matte-motes-frown:

 

 

:matte-motes-crying:

[valerie Inshan]

/me hugs you. we never needed hugs like we do today

 

[WilhiamTestGrid]

[Dillon Levenque]

I don't mean to be preachy and please excuse me if I sound that way. I never would have written this a few years ago; I'm not sure I would have even thought this way a few years ago. Perhaps the constant exposure to other viewpoints that is part of Second Life has made me a better person. In any case, the following reflects what I've been thinking about today.

 

This has been a very difficult day for me and for many of my countrymen. Seeing the images. Reliving the memories. It's hard. But I've read a lot of your words and talked to some of you about this. I have something on my mind; it's been in my thoughts all day.

Ten years ago we watched more than 3,000 people die for having gotten up in the morning and gone to work. It seems to me that it is very important to know why that happened and I believe it happened because of one thing and one thing only: hate.

It's easy to hate; I've held an abiding hatred for the people behind the 9/11 attacks for ten years. But after thinking more about it and talking more about it I have to think my hatred is wrong. Hatred lets you off every moral hook. Don't get me wrong, I'm not preaching love. I'm not turning the other cheek. I'll not forgive. But I will try to get away from hatred.

Hatred motivated the attacks of September 11, 2001. It's been behind many of history's most terrible incidents. It takes no prisoners. It begets only more hatred. It's never satisfied. We should not give into it.

 

To Valerie, for starting this thread, and for others from other countries who expressed their condolences and support, thank you. It meant a lot to see that ten years ago and it means a lot now.