I’ve been sitting here for the last 30 minutes trying to write about September 11 th. But it’s one of those rare topics where words will not do it justice. Like me, you know doubt remember exactly what you were doing when the planes hit the towers that day.
And you probably frantically called loved ones but were unable to get through because the phone lines were clogged. I remember the feeling of unity that this country had during the weeks after. Americans didn’t care about politics, race, rich or poor, and you could have pretty much given any American a rifle and they would have gladly gone overseas to fight the terrorists.
Of course, now that it’s more than a decade later, people can’t get along as usual and unless you were directly affected you may not think much about the events that took place that day.
But if anything…
Those events showed us typically cocky Americans that we’re not invincible and that “bad things” can happen in our country too, not just on TV in third world countries.
Also, I remember gas masks and other survival gear selling like crazy after that day. I imagine today that most people couldn’t find their gear if they had to and it’s probably buried in some box in their basement or attic.
I hope you’re not one of those people and that you have food and water storage at home. (I do, including over 60 gallons of water.) I hope you’ve got a 72-hour kit in your home and car and that you have an emergency plan for your family should tragedy ever strike.
Like most people…
I certainly hope bad things never happen, but I have peace of mind that I have done a great deal of preparation for whatever event occurs. Being prepared reminds me of a cartoon I read the other day. A little old lady gets pulled over by the police and the officer asks her if she is carrying any weapons. She tells him yes, that she has a gun on her hip. As he starts to talk again, she interrupts him and says she also has one on her ankle.
She interrupts the officer several more times to let him know she has one in her purse and also one in the glove box. The officer then says to her, “ma’m, why do you have so many guns, what are you afraid of?” And she replies back to the officer, “Not a darn thing.”
Like I mentioned at the beginning, words cannot do justice to the feelings experienced that day. In addition to thinking about preparedness, remember how you felt about your family members that day… how much you wanted to get ahold of them to make sure they were safe and how close you felt to them. I imagine if most of us thought about September 11th more we’d take preparation a little more seriously and we’d pay attention to our family members a little bit more too.
Just food for thought this week.
