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September 11, 2008
911 Memorial....
Let's remember 911....
Comments
It seems like only yesterday... hard to believe seven years
have passed.
I watched the disaster unfold from the roof of my building that morning.
Posted by: bren at September 11, 2008 4:11 PM
A day of remembrance and we get 1 post? Well I will always remember the courage and sacrifice on that day. May GOD bless you. I love New York!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end...
Posted by: what at September 11, 2008 11:03 PM
Perhaps its the provenance of the thread that's the problem?
Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2008 11:53 PM
please lets not start an argument over 9-11. Let it rest. I spent the last 2 days going to memorials and seeing grieving family members and friends. At least someone thought to remember the day. Thanks for that, What.
Posted by: bxgrl at September 12, 2008 11:08 AM
bxgirl--I also spent time thinking and remembering and think its unbelievable that someone would put up a 9/11 related post and then chastise folks for not writing on it. Perhaps people were away from their computers yesterday actually commemorating the occasion. That is why this bothers me--feels like he is using this as another excuse to abuse. sorry if I bummed you out though bxgirl.
Posted by: wasder at September 12, 2008 11:30 AM
I guess I share his amazement that only one person did post. Maybe people were away, but I have say it was so disconcerting yesterday to see people on the subway and in the streets acting as though nothing ever happened. I was up at the Firemen's Memorial on Riverside, there must have been over 1000 firefighters,family members and soldiers there, and still people walking dogs kept charging through the crowds, bike riders kept zipping by, joggers running by with not a glance. Then downtown, sitting around, listening to the most hair raising stories those who survived, and people walking by looking annoyed because the sidewalks were crowded.
I understand how you feel- maybe he really did want to use it that way but all he said was let's remember and I guess it's up to the rest of us how we respond. Thank you, wasder for being protective and caring.
Brooklyn lost a lot of firefighters, and cops that day. we lost a lot of Brooklynites as well. Maybe in the overall scheme of the universe it was a blip on the radar, but it sure felt like a life changer here on the ground. It's not that I think we should get hung up on the past, and if you know any of the 9-11 people you know how many have moved on in really positive ways, establishing scholarships and organizations to educate and help in memory of those who died. I work for one of those now and volunteer with others. I'm a survivor (I was extremely lucky- my story is nothing compared to what others went through) and a recovery worker- for most of us the years since have been about trying to make something good come out of what happened that day, not to relive it over and over. 9-11 changed us and the world in ways we never foresaw but yesterday it just seemed like nothing changes.
Sorry for the long post, wasder- it's just really tough and sometimes I just wonder.
Posted by: bxgrl at September 12, 2008 12:13 PM
Hey bxgirl. I totally get where you are coming from and that long post was really nicely written. I think that one's perspective has a lot to do with your experience that day and that of one's family and friends. I would bet that a lot of the people that you write about (the ones biking through or complaining about crowded sidewalks) were not residents of NYC that day and therefore have a much less fresh and acute reaction to the anniversary. I for one get very emotional on the day, though I only had one family friend die that day and certainly didn't suffer any close personal losses. You couldn't live here at that time and not be wounded and angry.
So I hope that you know I wouldn't make light of the anniversary. I wouldn't have responded anything positive or negative had to this thread had it just been created and allowed to develop, but he came on and basically called folks out for not responding (after calling Brownstoner himself out on the lack of a front page 9/11 post, saying the blog "disgusts" him---this feels like using the anniversary for one's own ends). As for why other people might not write something in response to the What forgive them for thinking that if you respond to something the What writes that you are likely to be abused by him afterwards.
Posted by: wasder at September 12, 2008 12:55 PM
I don't think anyone could misconstrue your comments wasder, I think bxgrl just didn't want to see this particular subject to develop into an acrimonious back and forth.
I myself sometimes think many people ignore 9-11 because thinking about it is so much more painful and frightening. I've been guilty of that myself on occasion. I think we'll all in agreement about how What reacts, and maybe the thread was an opportunistic post. But at the very least it gave you and bxgrl and bren a chance to express that you remember and I think that's a lot more important. I would have liked brownstoner to have posted a thread about it. But then I want a lot of things I'll never get so...
Posted by: east river at September 12, 2008 6:49 PM
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