It was a perfect day yesterday, allowing me to wonder around the city unhindered by the heatwave like conditions we experienced several days ago. I am still without a car and may quite literally be a while away from acquiring one. Necessity being the driver, I have learned to enjoy walking, relying on my feet to transport me around this exceptional city. It has kept me in relatively good shape, serving as a great substitute for running and mountain biking.
My walks have became mini-adventures of sorts after I found a couple of coupons for free "Street Pitas" redeemable at a local Greek restaurant. In fact, it has become a game, a treasure hunt. In the last week, I’ve been able to harvest from the streets two pre-paid passes to the movies, a number of buy one get one free burgers from Fatburger, two free orders of french fries from Fatburger and two $3.00 off coupons for Daphne’s Greek Restaurant. All that simply by looking at the ground as I traversed. The timing couldn’t have been better. It was my son’s birthday on the 8th. We decided to get together this week so I told him it was going to be burgers from Fatburger and the movies.
The city was its usual self, yesterday. The Sunday activities weren’t out of the ordinary except for the subsonic presence of a date remembered - a terrible tragedy that happened ten years ago. Many can still remember it quite vividly because of the strong emotions that were aroused by those events. Television’s role in bringing the images live gave Americans a shared experience of such intensity. It wasn’t something that they merely read about, neither were they pictures simply perused after the fact. They were actually there, removed only by physical presence, yet psychically connected. They were feeling the danger, the fear, the panic, the sorrow and all the raw emotions conjured up by such a tragedy. Many were asking if someone they knew might be in close proximity to the burning towers. Their hearts and minds hoping and wishing for the best.
Many people I came across didn’t quite know how to express their feelings about September 11th. Doubtless, many knew someone, who knew someone who was related to someone who perished in the attacks. But there is really no proper way to express those shared experiences with someone else except to remember that day. We derive those feeling from the fact that those who were killed were Americans and any attack on an American is an attack on each of us all. Many watched the special presentations that various channels offered their viewers. I noticed there were football games on several circuit televisions at bars and outside patios of restaurants. People were living their lives but expressing, nonetheless, that they haven’t forgotten - through tweets, blogs and affirming posts made to others on their social networks.
America has never been the same since.
The city was its usual self, yesterday. The Sunday activities weren’t out of the ordinary except for the subsonic presence of a date remembered - a terrible tragedy that happened ten years ago. Many can still remember it quite vividly because of the strong emotions that were aroused by those events. Television’s role in bringing the images live gave Americans a shared experience of such intensity. It wasn’t something that they merely read about, neither were they pictures simply perused after the fact. They were actually there, removed only by physical presence, yet psychically connected. They were feeling the danger, the fear, the panic, the sorrow and all the raw emotions conjured up by such a tragedy. Many were asking if someone they knew might be in close proximity to the burning towers. Their hearts and minds hoping and wishing for the best.
Many people I came across didn’t quite know how to express their feelings about September 11th. Doubtless, many knew someone, who knew someone who was related to someone who perished in the attacks. But there is really no proper way to express those shared experiences with someone else except to remember that day. We derive those feeling from the fact that those who were killed were Americans and any attack on an American is an attack on each of us all. Many watched the special presentations that various channels offered their viewers. I noticed there were football games on several circuit televisions at bars and outside patios of restaurants. People were living their lives but expressing, nonetheless, that they haven’t forgotten - through tweets, blogs and affirming posts made to others on their social networks.
America has never been the same since.
