So...now what?

It's 9/11 again. The History Channel shows its documentaries, movies like Flight 93 have been playing all week, and nobody seems to notice. Seven years have elapsed since the event that drastically changed our outlook (at least for a little while) as a nation and I'm pretty sure that most people didn't give the date a second thought. Nowhere on my campus of Sonoma State University was a single mention of the towers, the lives lost, or the ill advised wars that sprang from the tragedy. It was business as usual, except on television. And maybe I wanted to watch something other than 9/11 documentaries, like Hitler documentaries or programs about various narcotics on my favorite network. Is that a selfish request on this day when American complacency was shaken to its core?

I don't know. Maybe it is, but the focus this 9/11 is one of the continuing legacy of the attacks, which I for one only see in airports and cable news. In suburban California, life continues much as it did before 9/11. If we were changed by that day, we didn't change much, or for very long.

I can remember where I was when I found out about the attacks, my grandparent's house, being woken up by my mom to watch CNN. I talked to some of my friends about it, and many were skeptical that a. we were attacked and b. that terrorists would be involved. Of course, as a 13 year old at the time, I didn't spend all that much time thinking about the consequences of the event. It happened, and that was that. Sure it was terrible, but there was nothing I could do.

But now I have thought about it. In all honesty, I don't know that it has affected me in a significant manner other than the wars this country is involved in. That may sound callous, but personally I feel that a war where the youth of America is fighting and dying merits more concern than a singular incident, tragic as it was. Its like looking at World War II and only mentioning Pearl Harbor.

Seven years have passed. Is that enough time to get over a massive wound in the American psyche? More importantly, should we be over it? When mentioned, we all have opinions and feelings, even some convictions as to 9/11; but the day itself seems interchangeable with the tenth or the twelfth. The anniversary is almost over, and no one noticed. Except, of course, our lovely candidates. It is, after all, an election year. Neither is dumb enough to fail to appear in New York today, although perhaps I hoped someone would forget (he is old enough to be forgetful). Even CNN noticed that the memory of 9/11 is fading in the mind of the average American, and whether we've chosen to forget or repressed the thought in order to resume our lives, it doesn't in fact matter. What matters is that we take an interest in the affairs of our government, vote, engage in public service, and generally function as informed citizens. If remembering 9/11 helps you do that, so be it. But me, I'd rather think of this day as my grandparent's anniversary and my buddy Brandt's birthday. Is that a repression of memories of that morning? I don't know. Make your own conclusions, observe the day or don't, but remember for whatever reasons you choose that 9/11 was a day that changed America. In 2001.
Sure there are implications of the day on foreign policy, executive power and a myriad of other sectors of our nation that persist into today, but it is an event that occurred in the past that we cannot change. Focus on the effects, where we can make a difference.

So...now what?
Now we sit, lounging on the cusp of change. No matter who's elected, things will change. Things always do. What change comes depends on you. After seven years, most people would say they have adjusted to a post 9/11 world. It's not a novel situation anymore. The War on Terror has taken on normalcy. And in all of the thoughts I've had on the state of things, that disturbs me more than almost anything else in the world.
Thus passes another September Eleventh.

-Teags