9/11 10 years later

My friend Alan visited this weekend, in town for our friend’s wedding. His flight back home was first thing this morning, and I dropped him off at Midway for his flight. As I drove back up Lake Shore Drive a bit after 7 am this morning, I remembered how similar, how pretty and quiet the day started off ten years ago today.
I was working for the Gap, just three months into the job. We had been working overnight, doing what we called a floor set or rollout of new product. It was myself and a few of the other managers, working to finish up before 7:30 am. Our DM arrived just about 8am with strange and startling news: a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. At the moment, I was so exhausted from being up for 24 hours, I chalked it up to a sad accident, wrapped up my work, and headed into the city on the train. I drifted off to sleep once switched over to the Purple Line express to the Loop.
When I woke up near the Merchandise Mart stop, I noticed the train was rather empty going into downtown. I then took notice of people flooding back into the trains, leaving downtown. It was odd. And upon disembarking the train, the Loop was in utter chaos; I could sense panic and fear. People looked terror stricken. As I tried to enter my doctor’s building, security was telling people to leave, to evacuate. I managed to get to my therapist’s office to find him in tears. That’s when I found out the extent of what had occurred: the second plane; the collapse of Tower 2; the crash in D.C. And Pennsylvania. Mayor Daley had ordered the evacuation of downtown Chicago, as it was feared it was a target as well. Terrorism had struck the US.
The rest of the day was a blur. I had to walk all the way hone from downtown Chicago, as all buses were packed beyond belief. I wasn’t alone either, as many people took to the streets, walking aimlessly. We all seemed lost. And angry. At home, I couldn’t sleep much, so I watched the endless news footage. That evening, I stayed with some friends. I was an exhausting day, but we didn’t want to be alone.
So now it’s 10 years later. Watching some of the History Channel specials about 9/11 today, I was compelled to post in reflection. It was a painful period in our lives, but we learned from it. What we chose to learn, well that’s questionable. Some learned that xenophobia was the easiest way to direct the blame. And have we grown? I’m not sure. I had forgotten in the hours after the attacks, the celebrations in the street in Pakistan that were broadcast. It’s curious how hurt we were by that, yet on May 1st this year, many Americans did the same thing when Bin Laden was killed. Did we confirm to the rest of the world we are just as barbaric? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just some people’s way of showing closure. And do we need to keep perpetuating the ‘Ground Zero’ label? Why can we make it more positive, and call it what it is: the WTC Memorial site? Again, closure folks.
But this isn’t about that today. I just wanted to reflect for a moment. I remember where I was when it all happened. I know what kind of impact it had on me. It made me a bit more tolerant, and a bit more outspoken about what I believed in. It made me a stronger and more resilient person. I guess I just wanted to make note of that and share it. And maybe make someone else out there really take stock in what happened that day, and realize why we should never ever forget. But maybe, just maybe, we should also work a bit on forgiving and moving on for the better. That would be a good lesson, too.