It's been nearly three months since the attacks on September 11, and it feels as if an eternity has passed. I can still remember walking into work on that fateful day, logging onto my computer and checking the news. My usual routine, before I got down to the usual grind of work. I remember popping onto BBC News and seeing a picture of a plane crashing into the World Trade Tower. All I could think of was "This can't be real, it must be a mistake. The pilot must have gone off course. What is a Cessna doing flying about the city." In my mind I couldn't grasp that the plane was actually a passenger plane, nor could I grasp the fact that this plane could possibly be larger then a two-prop Cessna. A few minutes later I learnt that a second plane was seen going into the tower and my mind reeled. It was then that I understood that this was no accident and it was then that I learnt that these were actually passenger planes that had been hijacked. For the rest of the day I could not bring my self to concentrate on anything else but what was going on in the States. It got to a point where I had to force myself to leave the office and go down to the café so that I could take a break from the images that assaulted my mind, my soul. Upon arriving down stairs I broke into tears. It took several more days for me to be able to watch the news without crying, yet as I write this, tears still come unbidden.
I still can't quite grasp the fact that the towers are actually gone, and I still can't grasp the reasoning as to why this happened. Though I know that there are no reasons for us to grasp. There are no logical explanations as to why a group of people would see fit to do something as horrific as this. I believe it is this that makes it more horrifying for me. How can someone deem the killing of innocents necessary? How can one people say that another is not worthy of being? Why is it that a people that are so similar in one aspect if different in another cannot find peace? I guess the answer to these questions may lay in our history. It seems that throughout the course of human evolution there has always been one extreme group or another who have felt justified in declaring themselves far superior to those around them. Who have deemed themselves to be greater in the eyes of god. The Crusades, the Spanish inquisition, and World War II bear witness to these facts. But can the past be used as a justification, as an excuse "It is in our nature, these things have happened and will always happen and there is naught that we can do". Or do we learn from the past and try not to repeat it. Learn from what has been, and better ourselves with this knowledge.
Why are people so afraid of meeting the unfamiliar, sharing, and learning from them? Why is it that we feel threatened by that we do not understand, or by that that differs from us? This world holds a diverse nation, each with their own cultures, each with their own ideals, but all humans one no different from the other. We are all born the same way. We will all live a life. Though granted some may be harder then others. We all have families, some our own, some adopted, some drawn together from the friends we meet and the people who have touched our lives. We all have fears and aspirations. We all dream. We all Hope and in the end of our life we all shall pass.
Maybe I am too idealistic in my view of the world. Maybe I am too much of an innocent. But from the travels I have taken, from the people I have met. From their willingness to teach me about themselves and their cultures. From the sights I have seen, the beauty of our world is just incredible. Aye, even with its rough spots, and I have seen my fare share of those. In my heart I still believe that there is a hope that our world may one day live in peace... all it takes is the willingness and the patient to learn from one another, the openness to accept that there are views other then our own.
For all those that passed away and those that are left behind my sincerest condolences and heartfelt wishes. May god keep this world safe and sound, and maybe one-day we will hopefully find peace.
Posted by munin at December 10, 2001 12:56 PM