9/11 and Normalcy

I do not remember the events of September 11, 2001, but I have had to live with the effects of what happened in one of America's most depressing days. It is something out of a movie; four planes are hijacked and crash into American buildings with one crashing into a random field in the middle of nowhere. It is difficult to talk about such a matter as this, but there are some points I believe that are worthy of mentioning.

The first point I would like to bring up is how normal everything started. The night before when people were finishing packing and getting ready for their trip, or when in that morning as people were reading the newspaper and drinking their coffee and going about their morning routine before their flight left, it was just going to be another trip and that would be it. Sadly, they had absolutely no idea that they would be victims of a terrorist attack as their planes were to be hijacked. One can only imagine the sheer terror and despondence sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and coworkers, had as they found out their plane was being taken over by terrorists, or they realized they knew somebody on one of the planes that had been infected by terrorists.

Aside from this, another point worthy of mentioning is the psychology of the events that happened that day. While this could be worthy of a Ph.D dissertation, I won't go into that detail (simply because I do not have that kind of knowledge in this field), but the main topic I would like to discuss is fear. Fear caused many things to occur that day. One could argue that fear caused the terrorists to hijack the planes and cause the trauma they did. Fear caused people to end their lives on that day, but out of all this fear, new relationships formed. This is what is most intriguing to me. When people feel attacked and vulnerable, a topic in psychology known as "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" is worth mentioning. After having the first need being met (physiological--aka food, water, etc), the next need that is to be met is that of safety. Humans, by nature, are social creatures. When scared or afraid, just like other animals, we seek safety in numbers. There is a real advantage to this. This is related to fear on 9/11 because for the people in the buildings or in the streets, out of fear, people who at first didn't know each other put their lives in each others hands in order to live and make it out alive. Or, if somebody was emotionally distraught (who wasn't that day?), there would be the random stranger's shoulder to cry on. This is inspiring to me because in a time of uncertainty and terror, humans can come together and provide support for the betterment of the whole. In the end, people take care of each other.

The last thing I wish to mention is when discussing a topic as heavy and emotional as a terrorist attack in which over 3,000 people died, one has to be sensitive. There has been a lot of negative aftermath. I think one to mention in specific is a certain skepticism and hatred to all muslims. There is an automatic sense of dread if somebody walks onto a plane wearing a turban; people's heads will turn and passengers will become uneasy. However, it has been documented that many people native to Iraq and other middle eastern countries are not this way, in fact, the people that wish to bring harm to America and use religion to put people down are in the minority. One cannot write an article that has a hateful tone towards Islam because many people that follow Islam are peace-loving citizens just like many in America. In NYC, if writing to an audience about the events that took place on 9/11/01, one would have to be sensitive especially to the people that worked downtown and probably suffer PTSD as a result. Many people that made it out alive from the Twin Towers or the surrounding areas after they collapsed are permanently mentally scarred. If something you write promotes a trigger for that PTSD victim, that wouldn't be an effective article on the subject.

In the end, what took place on that day was one of the most horrific days in America's relatively young history. Things started out like any normal day but quickly turned sour. Fear caused many things to happen and one has to address this in a sensitive manner. I like how George Bush put it: "They can shake the steel of our buildings, but they cannot shake the steel of the foundations of America."