Since its been 10 years, can we stop pretending to like New Yorkers now?

Well, It has been 10 years, or will be very soon, and I am from New York, actually for a while me and my friend Pete used to go to the WTC at least every other week, on Wednesday when we had the day off, we'd go in THE city to screw around, inevitably we'd have breakfast at the cafe on top of the Towers, it was a neat thing, and a fond memory of a time when I made okay money and had zero responsibilities.

Growing up in New York from 1985 to August of 2001 when I moved to Tucson, the Twin towers were pretty much part of the Iconic skyline of "THE City", that is to say Manhattan Island, they were just one of those things which always were, despite being relative newcomers compared to the more venerable buildings like Empire State and Chrysler, and of course, Lady Liberty (though she's only part of the skyline if you are looking from Jersey, which would require actually traveling TO New Jersey, something all sane individuals avoid doing). I will always remember 9/11 as the day without music, I really don't know what Don McLean was singing about in American Pie, but for me its become 9/11, because that morning, I didn't yet have a television, I had only just moved to Arizona, and rented my first apartment, I had an Alarm clock, and I was sleeping on an air mattress. I remember that the clock did not go off on the hard rock station I programmed it to since I like to be shocked awake, it was apparently on some talk station. Indeed in my groggy morning state I noticed all I could tune in was talk, so I shut it off and brushed my teeth, showered, shaved, not in that order necessarily, and got dressed and headed to school.

I had a new radio in my old Buick, I'd had it installed just before I left NY, now they're common but in 2001 it was pretty snazzy in that it had 3 tiered presets, or basically 21 station memory, you hit the buttons in a row, then hit a next button, I had preset all 21 stations specifically because I thought this was a very cool feature. I went through 21 stations of talk on my way to school before I realized perhaps something was up, or I just got tired of shifting stations, I don't know which, and just left one on. I honestly don't remember what time it was, but it doesn't matter, Arizona is 3 hours behind NY in September. At first I realized they were talking about the Twin towers, and I just figured "Oh, it must be the anniversary of the bombing", then someone said something I'll never forget, I can't recall who it was, or what station I was listening too, but I will never forget the words "The south tower is completely gone", it was said more than once, and it was said by someone who had clearly been recorded saying it when it happened, because they were completely astonished. I remember next yelling at my radio, "What do you mean GONE?! it CAN'T BE GONE.. ", punching my dashboard angrily with my right hand. Almost swerving onto the "bone yard" at Davis Monthan airforce base, which, on 09/11/01 would have been a very, very, very bad life choice.

I can go on and on, about a friend of mine who couldn't find his mother, who was listed on the rolls of the missing or dead, or another friend of a friend who was obliterated while re-paneling an office on one of the upper floors, they found most of his head. But that's not important. I could have posted this Journal on 09/11/11, but I didn't, because I read an article today which literally brought tears to my eyes, and that is hard to do.

The article is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/19/110-stories-project_n_900231.html?icid=maing-grid7|aim|dl3|sec1_lnk3|78792 , and while I myself am NOT a fan of the Huffington post, I really recommend this reading. I also don't like to every suggest anyone donate to anything, because I don't believe in charity, or any kind of X-fare. In this case, I do believe that this is a cause worth making exceptions for, I think its important to remember that America is not a terrible evil that the world has been cursed to bear, and that we brought forth once a shining symbol of engineering and economic might, and placed it on the forefront of our nation, literally defying nature in its sky soaring construction, and that ignorance and hatred brought it crashing to earth, along with nearly 3000 souls, over 300 of which lost their lives trying to save others. They were there, they were beautiful, and I can still see them as a part of my home whenever I imagine the skyline of New York. I think its important to remember NY, and in a way, America, that way. As it was before that little bit of innocence got stripped away, they way things were Sept 10th 2001.

Maybe this journal is sappy, maybe its stupid, maybe we New Yorkers are twice the assholes we're made out to be, but I needed to write it.

Thanks to anyone who read this.

~B