September 11th Through My Eyes

There are certain moments in life when you remember exactly where you were. September 11, 2001, is one of those moments for me.

I was living in St. Louis at the time, 26 years old, and working for an event company. That morning, I was on my way to a professional golf tournament practice round in the region. Our company had activities planned at the tournament, and it was supposed to be a normal workday. Then I heard something on the radio.

A small craft, the announcer said, had hit the World Trade Center. At that point, it sounded like a terrible accident. Strange, certainly, but an accident.

I continued to a hotel, where I was meeting my boss so we could carpool to the golf course. The televisions were on near the hotel lobby. Breakfast was being served to guests, but people had begun gathering around the screens. There was a growing sense that something important was happening.

Then we watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Live. The room gasped. I can still remember the reaction. People who had been eating breakfast or talking quietly were suddenly frozen, staring at the television.

A stranger standing next to me said something I will never forget. “This is not an accident. This is something worse.”

He was right.

My boss and I eventually got into the car and headed toward the golf course. As we drove, we heard on the radio that the first tower had collapsed. It was difficult to comprehend. The World Trade Center was one of the most recognizable places in America. The idea that one of those massive towers could simply be gone seemed impossible. By the time we reached the golf course, we watched the second tower collapse live on television. Later we heard the news of the plane crash at the Pentagon, then the downing of United 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania.

Not long after the United States realized that is was under attack, St. Louis police officers escorted everyone out of the clubhouse. We were told to leave and go somewhere safe. Nobody really knew what was happening. There were rumors. There was confusion. There was fear that more attacks could be coming. For the first time in my life, it felt possible that nowhere was completely safe.

I lived in downtown St. Louis then, in a small apartment on the 15th floor of a building with a view of the Gateway Arch. There was speculation that Arch could be a target. I would not go back to my apartment that evening.

That fear may be one of the things I remember most about that day. Not just the images of the burning towers or their collapse. Not just the terrible realization that thousands of people were in danger, and many had been killed. It was the uncertainty. We did not know what would happen next. The entire day became a blur of television coverage, phone calls, rumors and unanswered questions. Airports shut down. People tried to reach family members. Television networks repeated the images of the planes striking the towers and the buildings collapsing. It felt as though the entire country had stopped. In many ways, it had.

September 11 was a day of confusion, fear and sadness. It was also a day when Americans watched events unfold together in real time, trying to understand something that seemed impossible only hours earlier. For people who were alive that day, the memories are often deeply personal. Someone remembers being in an elementary school classroom. Someone else remembers being at work. Some were on airplanes. Some were in New York, Washington, D.C., or Pennsylvania. Others, like me, were hundreds or thousands of miles away but watched the attacks unfold on television and listened to the news on the radio. The details are different, but the feeling is often the same. You remember where you were when you realized the world had changed.

Twenty-five years later, the images and memories of that morning remain difficult to separate from what came afterward. America changed. The way we traveled changed. The way we thought about safety changed. The country went to war. Politics changed. Our relationship with the rest of the world changed. Maybe some things changed for the better. Maybe some did not. But there is no question that September 11, 2001, changed the world. For me, the memory begins with a radio report about a “small craft” hitting the World Trade Center. It continues with a crowded hotel lobby, a collective gasp as the second plane struck, and a stranger recognizing before many of us did that this was not an accident. Then came the drive to the golf course, the news that the first tower had fallen, and watching the second tower collapse. Finally came the fear. The police telling us to leave. Not knowing where to go. Not knowing if another attack was coming.

That is what I remember about September 11. A normal morning that became something else entirely. A day when the world suddenly felt much bigger, much more dangerous and much less certain. And a day that, for better or worse, changed everything that came after it.

 RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Ease to Forget: 9-11 and a lost generation.

The new normal

Today is the 15th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We wanted to reprint our thoughts about the aftermath of the tragedy and what has happened to our country in the years since that terrible day. This article originally appeared on September 11th, 2015.

At the dawn of the 21st century I was a twenty five year old man who just started to get his life in order. Many of my peers had started their careers, a few had even started families. I was already attempting my second career and had finally moved out of my parents home. I had a college education and skills needed in a booming economy, but various personal missteps had slowed my entry into independent adulthood. In my circle of friends I was an anomaly, someone who just could not figure out how to grow up. Twenty five may have been a little late to grow up, yet I was comfortable that my life was back on a forward trajectory.

September 11th, 2001 was a very sunny and mild Tuesday in St. Louis Missouri. I was on my way to watch the best golfers in the world practice for an upcoming event in the area. I was to meet a fellow friend at a nearby hotel where we would get breakfast and carpool to the golf course. On my way the local radio broke the news that something seemed to hit one building of the World Trade Center. The initial reports said it was a small plane or a news helicopter. Less than an hour later I was standing in a packed lobby of a hotel watching the true horror unfold. This is going to sound like a cliche,  I did not know at the time how much the world was about to change.

Fourteen years later I start my day like any other. It is a bright mild Friday morning in Cincinnati Ohio. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. My life has continued a forward trajectory, everything seems the same as it ever was. I start every morning looking through the news and social media to see what trends SeedSing wants to tackle next week. On the morning of September 11th, 2015 my feed is filled with "Never Forget" memes from  the old and new media.  Like Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Never Forget has become this programmed response everyone feels they should give on this one day of the year. There is very little thought given to what this means. Why should we Never Forget? Who should we Never Forget? What will not forgetting give us?

We have forgotten and society has been radically altered because of our memories. The national reaction, fed by the politicians and media, was one of extreme vengeance. The grounds was still smoking when President Bush boasted of leveling other nations. The public applauded his strength, the press gave the administration a pass on any faulty intelligence, and the congress gleefully accepted war. All of the grand estates of the American society were controlled by greedy baby boomers who were already gearing up for a war in Iraq. The September 11th attacks caused the public to line up behind the warmongers. Instead of attacking Iraq, we were invested in going into another nation. There was no way to question our ill advised blood lust. To question was to not honor the dead. The baby boomers in charge consolidated their power, increased their wealth, and sacrificed the millennials.

The millennial generation were mostly in high school or college when the September 11th attacks took place. The baby boomers and generation xers were in the work force, shaping the future for the millennials. In the aftermath of the attacks, the millennials were called upon to defend their country. The millennials were recruited into a holy war that had not been won by over a hundred generations before them. The ones who belonged to the lower economic classes sacrificed their lives and sanity for our irrational wars.  All the millennials had their economic futures sacrificed by the greed of those in power. Concepts like freedom and patriotism were being co-opted by right wing corporate and religious institutions after September 11th. Our society started to deify rich white CEOs as some kind of economic savior, they were the job creators. We allowed the polluters to have more free reign, so we do not allow the terrorists to dictate our lives. The thieves on Wall Street were absolved because they were the champions of american capitalism. The boomers got rich, the gen xers tried to tread water, and the millennials were lost.

In 2000, at the age of twenty five, I was behind my peers. Searching for a career, living at home, and being generally without direction. This was not society, this was my own doing. Since September 11th, our society has fundamentally changed. What we forget is how the boomers changed this society. It has become the norm for a college educated twenty five year old to be living at home. In fourteen short years we have allowed the politicians, corporations, and media to create an economic wasteland for future generations. The boomers are still mostly in charge, and they have gotten wealthier. The gen xers are still mostly treading water, waiting for their opportunity. The millennials are learning how to survive a new social and economic reality, and they have no guidance. We have failed the millennials, and we need their help to fix our problems.

September 11th and the aftermath has seen way too much death and suffering. On that mild and sunny Tuesday morning all but twenty of the victims were living their lives and looking forward to their next happy moment. The many powerful people who exploited this event for their greed and racism should not be left off the hook. The architects of today's society, one that is leaving the majority behind, have allowed the fear of that day to flourish. They have lost a generation. Never Forget.   

RD Kulik

RD is the creator and Head editor of SeedSing. Have another opinion? Let us know.

"The Walk" provides stimulation for all ages, especially in IMAX 3D

Once a symbol of inspiration

Ever since I saw the documentary Man On Wire in 2008, I have wondered why I had never heard of Philippe Petit prior. Once I found out that there was a children's book featuring Petit’s story titled The Man Who Walked Between The Towers, I had to get it for my kids. Scholastic even made one of their Storybook Treasure cartoons from the children’s book. There is something incredibly romantic about Petit, his dream, and his determination to realize his vision. When I saw a theatrical trailer for The Walk a few months ago which is a biographical drama based on Petit’s high wire stunt in New York, I was pretty excited.

It is, of course, no secret why this story had more recently come to light. The towers went down. A tragedy to be certain. But for me the story does not bring up the memory of the tragedy except in the context of acknowledging the role it had in bringing the high wire story back to consciousness. I see what a Petit did as a celebration of the elegance of human potential. The 9/11 attacks represent the level of animosity that can be born of indifference. The only thing that relates these two events is this landmark. Perhaps that is why the children’s story, the documentary, and this film have come about in the aftermath. People want to remember the inspiration that occurred in the landmark’s beginning rather than the desperation of its end.

Both my four and six year olds are familiar with the story. They had even seen the documentary and remained engaged throughout. An accomplishment especially for a four year old (who was three when he saw it). My partner and I were looking for movies that we could take them to. As far as animated features there was only a sequel to a movie that we had not seen, so we showed the kids the trailer to The Walk. They wanted to see it. So a few days ago my family and I went to see it.

My impressions of the story as told by The Walk are mostly good. It is a biographical drama. The “drama” part means that facts are changed to make it interesting. I do not know how many inaccuracies are included in the other versions of the story that I have heard, but I would definitely say there are inconsistencies. That being understood, I thought the story as it was told was moving and captivating the entire time.

As far as the casting, I was initially unsure if Joseph Gordon-Levitt could pull this one off. I have no complaints about any other role I have seen him in, but it seemed a strange fit to me prior to my viewing of the film. I soon realized that my concerns were unfounded. He did a remarkable job of depicting the character of Philippe Petit.

At the theatre which we went to, the only available way to watch it was IMAX 3D. I am not usually a fan of 3D films. It tends to come across as gimmicky most of the time. In this case however, I was very impressed with the use of the medium. The last film I saw in 3D was Avatar, a film which was supposedly made to highlight the possibilities of 3D. In my opinion The Walk much more aptly fits that proposition. After seeing this in IMAX 3D, I think it would be regrettable to see it in 2D.

My four and six year old said they liked the film too. At a point in the film when Petit was walking between the towers they did get a bit scared and ended up taking off the 3D glasses. They told me that they were afraid that he may fall. Even after reminding them that they already know this story and how it ends, they remained tense. In the end, they said it was good. I even saw my four year old playing a “man who walked the towers” imaginary game using our living room furniture the next day.

As I suggested to my partner as we left the theatre, this was one of the most stimulating films that I had seen in the theatre in a while. I recommend checking it out, and if you can, in IMAX 3D.

Kirk Aug

Kirk is SeedSing's go to source for what has inspired and what will bring new inspiration. He believes in hummanity's capicity for greatness, most of the time. Follow Kirk on twitter @KirkAug.