I rmember hearing of the first attack on the way to work at SAIT. My wife and I both worked there and it was a very strange way to start the day. I was in a management conference that was supposed to run the whole day but the events kept us running into the lounge to see the events unfold. I was finally pulled out to take my distraught wife home. He step father was vice president for a bank and conducted a ton of business in the towers and her brother was a New Jersey fire fighter responding to the situation. She could not get through to anybody and was expecting the worst. It was a scary 36 hours waiting to hear from family.
In the days that followed I experienced all the anger and hate and pain that so many did. I was all for the "nuke 'm" school of thought, as I didn't know any better. I took what was reported at face value. My wife, who had all the reason in the world to be hateful, encouraged me to think otherwise and consider the source. She encouraged me to do my homework and make an informed decision on where to stand and what was right and what was wrong. She made me read my first book on the history of terrorism and the build up to 9/11. I'm thankful it did as it made me change my views on the subject greatly. That day changed a lot, and a lot of it changed me.
I still think back to that day and all the things that have changed. If someone were off planet for the past 5 years they would not recognize America. It is not the same country. We are not the same people. The changes have not been for the better IMO and that is a sad thing. The changes that have been made are exactly the changes that the perpetrators had hoped for. Our freedoms have been curtailed and we live each day in fear. Those that had power, have more. Are we safer? Not by a far shot. We had a chance for things to be different. We blew that chance. September 11th was a terrible day, but the months that followed were worse IMO.
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