<p>So here’s a question - I personally view 9/11 as a somewhat solemn day. I go to work and so forth, but I also follow the news coverage, maybe watch a tv special on it, etc. I think about what happened and all of the people who lost their lives and lost loved ones. My employer does a booze cruise half day sailing trip and dinner every September, and this year, it is on 9/11. I think it is in poor taste. I wasn’t planning to go anyway, I should, but it does not interest me in the least. What do you think about holding such an event on this date?</p>
<p>I personally think it’s tasteless, but at some point in time people started holding parties on Pearl Harbor Day also. </p>
<p>Do you live in Rockville, Maryland? If so, I guess it’s not as “real” to your boss as it might be to someone closer to NYC, where I don’t think I know anyone who didn’t lose anyone within no more than 2-3 degrees of separation. </p>
<p>You should go, and try to enjoy yourself. Make a mental note that the boss is a bit deficient in the imagination and empathy department. </p>
<p>rockvillemom, I think it’s a day to give a thought to the sorrow, but I wouldn’t change any plans in honor of it. I was driving back to Brooklyn having dropped off my daughter for her second day of Kindergarten in Chinatown, just a few blocks away, when the first plane hit. It was a nightmare to get her home that night and it took me a long time to recover from living in the NYC of the fall of 2001. But life goes on. I have a lot of sympathy for those who lost relatives on 9/11/01 but I don’t think some of them (not all) should succeed in their proposal to turn a big chunk of lower Manhattan into a cemetery. Life goes on. We shouldn’t forget but we shouldn’t give terrorists the power to ruin our lives forever. I say that with great sympathy for those whose lives were more directly affected.</p>
<p>Rockville is within driving distance of the Pentagon. It should be “real” to the boss.</p>
<p>Interesting observation about location - I grew up in NJ - so feel quite connected to NYC. And of course, the attack on the Pentagon was in our vicinity here in MD. I get the “life goes on” theory - I just don’t find it to be an appropriate day for such a silly outing. My recollections of 9/11 remain very vivid - being right outside Washington, DC - we were very afraid that we were next. I just remember the not knowing what to do more than anything - work closed by mid-morning - went to elementary school and picked up my sons and brought them home - no idea why - just ddn’t quite know what to do. School was on “lock-down” and kids were so confused as to what was going on and why so many parents were picking up their children. I just prefer the anniversary to be a quiet and reflective day I guess. Watching a bunch of adults make fools of themselves seems a ridiculous way to spend any afternoon, but especially not this one.</p>
<p>@busyperson, true enough, my apologies if I was not thoughtful. I lived around there for many years, but always had a mental separation between Maryland and Virginia. I don’t know why. </p>
<p>
I remember being upset that one of the schools refused to notify my child that I was okay after I got a message in. They said it would upset the children who did not get such a message. I understand their thinking, and I think they probably did the right thing, but didn’t understand at the time. </p>
<p>IxnayBob, it was definitely a crazy-making time for parents. I was zombified for weeks, but grateful that my daughter seemed to be complietely oblivious (she was in Kindergarten). But many years later she told me that she was really angry at me because I was so preoccupied. She didn’t start acting out (and even then, only a little) until after I got a grip on myself. Every time it rained, you could smell the stench from the pile outside of her school, and Chinatown was very affected–no phone service for months, traffic completely disrupted. A very tough time for everyone who worked in the school too, but to this day I am much closer with the parents from my daughter’s Kindergarten class (most but not all of them stayed together through 5th grade) than I would have otherwise, as we endured it together. For that I am grateful.</p>
<p>No worries, @IxnayBob. Your posts are always so kind to everyone.</p>
<p>We have very dear friends who were in both places, one running late to WTC, and one who worked in the Pentagon and was in the building; both were ok. Family was unable to contact them all day though. </p>
<p>We’re mid-Atlantic, and have family and friends in both metro areas, more in Washington Metro area though. Flight 93 also was in PA headed for what they thought was Washington Metro area. It is all still very real to me. I agree with @rockvillemom that it is still such a solemn day, I don’t think I would be able to go on the cruise. I think the boss really should know better.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896, I’m so sorry that you experienced that and had such a difficult time getting back to your D’s school, and the daily reminders being so close. It must have really been very sad and stressful.</p>
<p>No, not afraid, because bad guys don’t need to wait for “special days” to do bad things. It’s not like an attack on Sept 11 would be somehow more horrifying than one on Sep 10. </p>
<p>I do think that 9/11 was selected for its other meaning as 911 = emergency. Likewise the Benghazi attack on 9/11/11. But having lived through the craziness of post-9/11 NYC with travel restrictions and cops eyeballing everyone driving onto bridges and at the ends of subway platforms, I came to believe that there’s just no way to prevent any eventuality. The whole idea of going after knitting needles on airplanes after the box-cutting terrorists, and inspecting shoes after the shoe bomber strikes me as a severe lack of imagination. To this day there is a police car parked at each end of the Brooklyn Bridge, supposedly doing surveillance. But last month two different sets of people scaled the bridge, right in front of their eyes. It is what it is, and I am very grateful to live in a place that, although there are very occasional random acts of craziness, is 1000000000 times safer than so many other parts of the world. That’s what I came away with, finally, after 9/11/01.</p>
<p>Similar memories - a cousin who was in one of the towers did get out - but was not able to reach anyone for hours. She walked home to Brooklyn. I think it is one of the most vivid days I have as an adult memory. So, I can’t even imagine what it feels like for someone who lived in NYC or close proximity to the Pentagon. I don’t feel fear as the anniversary approaches, just sadness and respect.</p>
<p>@IxnayBob, I’m so sorry that your wife and you experienced that in NYC. The forgotten lunch is such a blessing. It is beyond my comprehension how traumatic it all was for you and all the NYC residents and commuters.</p>
<p>I changed a flight return date (which was supposed to be September 11th) to September 10th (even paid $150 to change the flight). I know it’s totally irrational/stupid/dumb/whatever, but somehow it made me feel safer. Go figure.</p>
<p>I have flown on 9/11 a few times since 2001 and plan to again this year. Not only do I feel safer, the fares tend to be lower and I feel patriotic. I won’t let them make me fear living my life.</p>
<p>“I am very grateful to live in a place that, although there are very occasional random acts of craziness, is 1000000000 times safer than so many other parts of the world.”</p>
<p>Amen. Today is the tenth anniversary of the most horrific terrorist attack (warning- some of the photos are very disturbing):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/beslan-school-hostage-crisis-massacre-10th-anniversary-1463470”>http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/beslan-school-hostage-crisis-massacre-10th-anniversary-1463470</a></p>
<p>I was on a PATH train that was stalled behind the last train into WTC that morning. I have very close connections to the WTC site, specifically the pre-school that was located at No. 7 WTC. I still am nearly brought to tears when I think about what could have happened to the kids and staff at the school. Some of you may have subsequently read about the cool heads and big hearts of the staff people who got the kids out safely without any panic (except for the frantic parents who couldn’t reach their children for hours because of an unintended mix-up by the police; completely understandable given the events of the day).</p>
<p>These past Septembers I don’t think about 2001 much because if I did I would be a walking wreck. My entire day, every work day, is spent in potential target areas; like thousands of other New Yorkers.</p>
<p>"I do think that 9/11 was selected for its other meaning as 911 = emergency. "</p>
<p>I don’t. I wouldn’t assume non-Americans know that association, and it’s not as though the attack was “worse” because Sept 11 = 9-1-1. </p>
<p>All of the men who boarded the planes had lived in the U.S. and knew what 911 meant. It’s just an extra layer of symbolism and another way that they said “screw you” to the U.S.</p>