Remembering When...

None of us will ever forget where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. I had just climbed in my car, headed for work as a contract writer with a high tech gaming company in Redmond. By the time I hit the freeway, I was in tears. I spent the entire morning listening to the radio and reading news online. It was not a day to write glowing reviews of silly computer games.

One thing I remember in the hours, days and weeks after the attacks was how nice people were to each other. No one cut off the car in the lane next to them in their rush to get to work. No one tailgated their neighbor in an attempt to get their kid to school on time. Everyone in the grocery store, the gas line, the coffee shop seemed to take an extra moment to make eye contact with the person next to them. To smile or at least nod. We had become a community. The sadness and devastation had pulled us together, united us against a horrible act that was beyond something we had ever imagined could happen.

But as the weeks turned to months and months turned to years, that feeling slowly ebbed away. Gone was the eye contact, the extra gesture of generosity, the “no, you first” attitude. Many people resumed their rushed, “don’t bother me” attitudes. Road rage and violent crime again topped the news. And now, as we slog our way through an ailing economy and witness our friends, relatives and co-workers lose their jobs, health care and even their homes, and as we watch the devastation in Haiti, can we pause for a moment? Can we take a deep breath and remember to smile at the young mom in the grocery store who is trying desperately to quiet her screaming child? Can we slow down and let the car next to us merge? Can we stop to help the confused, elderly gentleman on the sidewalk instead of averting our eyes?

I guess I just wish it didn’t take a crisis to pull us all together and make us care about our community.

And speaking of community, if you have the capacity to help Haiti, a member of our global community, please see my last entry on some very worthy organizations.



-- Post From My iPhone