Saturday, September 13, 2008

I really wasn't going to go anywhere near this.

But then today I read this. I am so glad I do not take spin classes.

Thursday morning I saw some vague FB references but I don't recall anyone saying anything about it at work. That night, distracted with other things, I noticed the flags at half-mast. Halfway through my own question I answered it... and immediately changed the subject. I got home too late to bother with Jon Stewart, and the next day everything was bright and shiny again.

I'm curious. What good does remembering it do? With Hurricane Katrina, you remember and maybe you donate some money to Habitat New Orleans or maybe you even organize a group of friends to go down and help with clean-up, or to just pour some tourist money into the town. Or maybe you collect donations to have an outside assessment of levies in your local area.

But really, this thing has gone on for so long, with such atrocities committed in our name, with such dire consequences here and internationally that we will be living with for decades to come, that I'd just as soon forget it.

I mean no disrespect to anyone who has spent any time over there regardless of where they are now or what condition they are in, or to anyone who lost anyone or anything when the planes crashed. I'm sorry it happened, I'm even more sorry about how it was handled and I'm monumentally sorry that I feel so apathetic about being able to do anything about it.

2 comments:

  1. I'm not sure it does any good to remember it; I hate how the Bush administration brings it up any any given opportunity to justify its current actions. However, I don't think we can help remembering it. Like it or not, like JFK's assassination, this was a watershed moment in American history. That day, my boss turned to me and stated, "The world has changed." I could only nod and agree.

    With each year that passes, I can feel myself (psychologically, mentally, physically) preparing myself for it in the weeks preceding the date (before the media starts blabbing about it). My therapist once told me that, that as human beings approach anniversaries of significant events, we are drawn to reflecting upon them - it's human nature, a biological thing.

    A few years ago, I went to a yoga class on that date. No mention was made of what happened, but the class was significantly different. The lights were turned off, and we practiced by candlelight. There was no music played - all I could hear was the instructor's voice and over 100 people breathing in unison. As cheesy as this sounds, it was very moving. That being said, that spin class sound atrocious.

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  2. That doesn't sound cheesy at all. Thanks for sharing.

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