So here I was, waiting for the traffic light to turn green, when the young man in the van next to me motioned to me.
I rolled down my window as he asked"Yo...my man,what is today's date?"
I replied"September 12th....yesterday was 9/11".
He turned to his co worker ,slapped him on the arm as if to say DUH? and said thanks.
Are you kidding me?
The day before,on the 18th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon,these 2 managed to miss the relentless news reports, programming, interviews, headlines and broadcasts.
Being contractors, they were electricians, they ride in a van with a radio.
I am sure they went into a deli at some point or some similar food establishment where there was a t.v. on and probably a newspaper or two sitting around.
I am fairly sure that at some point in there day they had the occasion to here some one telling their particular tale of what they experienced in 2001.
These young men both seemed to be Hispanic, although they both spoke perfect english without a hint of an accent,so I can only assume that they were either born here or have lived here for quite some time.*
(*This was not a racial comment, just painting a picture)
The reason this was so disturbing to me is the evening before, while trolling Facebook, I caught a conversation between some friends from high school.
Like thousands of other posts that day, the rhetoric was "we will never forget".
My response to them is the same that came up for me during this encounter with these two fellows.
Yes we will!
It will take a while. I am sure that those of us who were here that day will continue to retell tales of our experiences on that day and the days to follow.
For those of us in the NY area, the stories are heartbreaking and tragic.
Still,I know, like other events from the past,September 11th will someday be just another day on the calendar with an asterisk or footnote attached to it.
How do I know?
Because when millennials graduating from college, were asked what happened on December 7th , most did not know the answer.
When those who knew the date were asked what year that was , half got it wrong.
December 7th 1941,"A day that will live in infamy!"
I'm afraid not so much.
It's amazing to me how many people were there when Maris hit #61.
No my friends, we will forget and even worse, retell stories that might not be accurate.
And yes 6 million Jews did die and the Holocaust did happen!
Shabbat Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment