​Weathering the Storm with the Wandering Puffin #32

Where were you on 9/11, 20 years ago? I remember where I was, not knowing what had happened as I worked at the travel agency where I was employed at the time, until someone came in and said, did you hear what happened? Of course, I had not, but from then on, I was glued to the radio as there was no TV in the office. I was shocked. It was surreal and even though I was some 1300 miles away, it hit me hard. I am originally from New York City, as many of you know. I tried to make sense of it all and like everyone else, asked how this could have happened? It had, not once, but twice, and not just in New York City, but in Washington DC and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 4 times in total and nearly 3000 people died and in the subsequent 20 years, many have succumbed to the effects of 9/11, those heroes who tried to save others, still today with maladies from the effects of the destruction. Yes, there were survivors, but will forever by traumatized by the events of 20 years ago. The images are indelibly engrained in my mind as well as anyone I am sure of those old enough to have “experienced” the tragedy on that day. 

9/11 was and still is, my generation’s Pearl Harbor. We don’t forget that date in our history and we should never forget this one either. What came out of both events was a sense of unity in the country and a common cause. Our nation had been attacked and we as a nation collectively had to pull up our bootstraps and take the fight to the enemy and defeat the enemy. There was just cause in both cases as we were attacked on our own soil, and something had to be done about it. How it was done after 9/11 is up for discussion and the question is and will always be, are we safer now than we were then? The answer on the surface is yes, but I do not blindly accept that answer and as we all know, our lives changed forever that day. The problem I have is that we all become complacent, and time goes by, and I fear that this is again happening, we will forget as the next crisis happens which is what we have now with the pandemic.

Yes, we are reminded as each anniversary comes and goes and I know I will never forget, but that unity that comes about so rarely in our lives as Americans is fleeting and it takes a tragedy to bring forth that unity or an event like the US Olympic hockey team winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games against the backdrop of the Cold War, for those of you who remember that time. Rather than attacking one another in this very stressful time, we again need to come together to get past this pandemic and allow ourselves to move forward in our lives. We need to get past the rhetoric, the politics and realize that we are all people who want to simply live our lives the best we can. I am tired of hearing the statistics and try as hard as I can to tune it out but being in the travel industry and working with kids, I need to tune in, so I can be a more effective travel professional and educator. We will get through this, and it will take time. It will require cooperation, not infighting. I don’t want another tragedy, but, if we let our guard down because we are having another civil war, then who knows!!!
​As always, I am interested in your thoughts, comments, questions and adding to the discourse is always appreciated be in on the site itself or on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you read this. Thank you for your support of this small business and it is truly appreciated!!!

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