Think about 9/11 and how you felt that day, that night, and the rest of the week. How does that compare with how you feel now?
I've been researching some 9/11 poetry per request of several of my classmates who wanted me to compare genbaku poetry to that of our country's most recent tragedy. As I was reading some of the poems, I realized how patriotic our country is compared to others. Japanese poetry says little about rising up as a country. There are many differences in the two events, but why do we love our country, and turn to each other, so much more than the Japanese?
Also, I remember walking into my radically right-winged senior history teacher's class, which was one of my favorites, just after the attacks and not knowing what to expect from my loose cannon of a professor, but I remember him calmly standing by the door and saying to each student as they walked in, "You shouldn't be scared [name of student], you should be pissed." He was right and I think we were to begin with. Are we still pissed or have we avenged our attack. No need to go into politics but how do ya'll feel about 9/11 right now?
Posted by owingsj at November 15, 2004 09:35 PMIn terms of your question, the way I feel about 9/11 and the way I feel now are unfortunately not the same. That day I was really just perplexed and confused. All the local authorities did was to cancel school for the rest of the day, leaving me with some friends to think about what happened, and wondering if there were more attacks to come. Yet now, since so much time has past, the feelings are different. I for one did not know anyone who was killed in the attacks on 9/11, so that might distort any possible feelings I have. Yet now I feel like things have progressed--there has been action taken, and this placates me temporarily. Yet what I have taken and kept from 9/11 is that there are people who hate the U.S., both inside and outside the country, who will go as far as to kill themselves to prove this emotion. This is indeed a scary thought. Yet what I think is even scarier is the fact that Americans, and especially American politicans, only seem to deal with issues like terrorism, when, so to speak, it hits home. No other time is ever given aside to issues in this country, until they are near a boiling point. This is what Sept. 11th proved to me the most.
Posted by: dan at November 16, 2004 10:54 PM