9/11/2021: 20 years later

 NEVER FORGET. 

Here are some of my Facebook posts from 2015-2020:

Here's a 9/11 story that will boggle your mind- the old show "Inside Edition" had a small panel of 4 people around late 2001/early 2002 who were fired the day BEFORE 9/11 at two different investment companies in the WTC. Two of the four went to counseling because they harbored hatred and ill will toward their former boss and co-workers...most of whom died the next day! Talk about a shock!

NOW 9/11 feels like a long time ago. The first 5-10 years, it seemed like yesterday (and, during the first 5 years, I kept the expecting the other shoe to drop). When I see the video of the stunned crowds now, with their somewhat dated hairstyles, clothes, glasses, antenna cell phones (no texting or net on them then), transistor radios, Matt Lauer with hair, etc....it feels a while ago now.

Trivia—-the big news item pre-9/11: the Gary Condit scandal. Novelty item: the silly talking fish. Artists: Ricky Martin, Britney Spears; saw lots of people jogging with their portable CD players. Video stores still had VHS and dvd. Rentals were big. Yahoo profiles were the pre-MySpace social media of the time (people would post a photo or two and write “call me on my cell”). Instant Messenger. People complaining that Bush was always down in Crawford, Texas.

Eerie/ unusual 9/11 true stories: -

-one sister was on the plane that hit the first tower and her other sister was in the building;

-a Summer intern who worked in the first tower was also on the plane that hit the very same tower;

-actor Mark Wahlberg was scheduled to be on the plane heading out of Boston but didn’t make the flight (he still has the ticket);

-a 1973 graduate of Bethel Park High School, Ken Waldie, was also on that first plane that hit the tower (my brother graduated in 1974 and knew him only in passing);

-by hitting the towers so early in the morning and so high, thousands of lives were saved. Many people sauntered into work later and, of course, the higher the hits on the towers, the less affected. If they would have hit lower and perhaps an hour later, tens of thousands would have died;

-the Battle of Antietam during the civil war actually had more casualties (!);

-Monday Night Football saved lives: several male survivors said they started out for work late because they stayed up late and slept in because of the game!

-only a few short weeks before, NBC Nightly News started their broadcast with a profile on Osama Bin Laden and his general threat on America. A co-worker of mine said to me “that is the guy I told you about from that article in Newsweek.” I vividly remember laughing at him and saying “yeah, this guy in a cave scares me.” A few weeks later...

-the plane that crashed in Shanksville, PA passed over my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA;

-the only person perhaps “relieved” by the massive distraction of the news: Congressman Gary Condit. He was the number one story in the news because of the disappearance of his intern Chandra Levy (Levy was having an affair with him);

-several employees of a firm in the second tower were fired on 9/10/2001. One had to go to counseling because he wished ill on everyone in his department: many died the next day!

Watching these 9/11 specials made me think of several things:

1) for years after, we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop (more terrorism)...it hasn’t happened;

2) the patriotic feeling in the country in the short weeks afterward disappeared ever since;

3) how the early part of a decade still feels like the previous decade. Until 11/22/63, it felt like the 1950’s; the early 1990’s felt like the late 1980’s; and so on;

4) the talking fish, the Gary Condit scandal, the Tom Green Show, boy bands, Britney and Christina, and Ricky Martin- all in that pre-9/11 era of late 1999-9/10/01;

5) the battle of Antietam had more casualties than 9/11. Everyone thought 20-50 thousand died on 9/11 in those short hours after the buildings collapsed. The terrorists made two strategic mistakes: they aimed too high and began their attack too early in the morning before many people truly sauntered into work;

6) MSNBC had nearly continuous coverage of the clean up. Ground Zero smoldered well into 2002;

7) 9/11 ushered in constant “breaking news” and the rolling ticker at the bottom of the screen (at least on a more regular basis);

8)thousands of people have died since from 9/11-related illnesses.

9) I wonder how many anonymous people in this coverage have since died of natural causes, etc.

10) Cell phones were boring back then- no texting and no net