September 11, 2001

Eight years ago today, the world completely turned upside down. I was a bartender during the time that it happened, so, of course, I was sleeping. After the 5th call of the morning, I decided to turn over and see what was going on. I remember thinking to myself, "somebody better be dead or dying for me to be woken up by this." I also recall regretting those words instantly. Jeremy Forest told me to turn the TV on, and I spent the entire day watching coverage, like everyone else. Was it an inexperienced pilot on a two-seater? Was it a failed engine? It never entered anyone's mind that it was a plotted, calculated terrorist attack. There were a million different opinions as to what happened, but a terrorist attack wasn't one of them.

Shortly after the plane crashed into the first building, yet another crashed into the second building, followed by news that the Pentagon had been hit, and attention quickly turned to "Where is the President? Have they hit the White House?" and P.O.T.U.S. was being whisked away, but it was to an undetermined location. In a matter of a couple of hours, the incidents of the day had turned from tragic accident to hostile, unabated attack.

I was sitting in my apartment with an extreme uneasiness about my safety in this world, as if the terrorists were targeting me in Portsmouth, NH to prove a point to the world. As I thought more about it, though, it came to my attention that I had been taking for granted the blanketing safety provided by my countrymen for my entire life to that point. We can shit on this nation for a number of things. Our healthcare is substandard, our areas of poverty are being neglected, and our leaders can't be trusted, but only once in my 32 years of life have I felt completely exposed. In a country this big, that's unbelievable.

So, as the buildings began tumbling down like a neighborhood of playing cards, hoards of noble, honorable, sacrificing men and women walked into the rubble as everyone else was trying to get out of it. With full knowledge that the collapse of the first two buildings had compromised the structural integrity of the others around them, these uncommon citizens marched forward in their search for any survivors, unsure of what they'd find, if anything, but feeling that it was their duty to look.

2750 people died at Ground Zero, including 450 firemen, police officers, and port authority employees, who went into the wreckage to save a grand total of 20 people. If the events of September 11th, 2001 have shown us anything, it's the resolve of America and Americans. Please take a few moments out of every day to think about those that go to work every day to risk their lives, so we don't have to risk ours. Heroes aren't found on basketball courts or football fields, and they're not found on movie screens or TV sets. Ironically, true heroes in this country would rather go unnoticed and lay under the radar. Yet another thing that makes them true heroes.

Yes, today is a great day to acknowledge the public service folk that lay it on the line daily in the name of safety, given the anniversary of their most recognizable performance. However, maybe it would be more important to acknowledge these people for less recognizable performances, for this is when they truly earn it.