so yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. people often have posted what they remember of the day, how it went down. so guess its time for me as well....and perhaps some things about how I reacted after wards.
I was working as a Resident Director at SUNY (State University of New York) Fredonia, about 1 hour south of Buffalo. every Tuesday we had a staff meeting (all the RD's) around 9 AM. we would sit around, talk about the week and upcoming things. typically I sat in the back, took notes, and tried not to fall asleep (I ran an all-male building of about 194 male residents, so I was up late night dealing with issues) and so forth. and here's what I remember.....
phone rings, the Director answers. the secretary had called to tell us a plane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers. huh? we had a TV in the room, so we turned on CNN.
and watched the 2nd plane hit. and both towers collapse. I remember the Assistant Director looking and just saying "Fuck." and then crisis mode hit. one RD had to leave....one of his RA's boyfriend worked in the towers. for me, it was the "counselor crisis mode" of "tertiary" (or dealing with the aftermath of a crisis to minimize the impact) mode. this entailed the following (sorry, the day was a blur):
-getting information ready for my RA's about grief and such. this included handouts and a listing of people from the New York City area. we had a meeting at 4 PM.
-using the chalk boards in the building to communicate information....stuff like "Don't use cell phones" and such.
-having the TV's on. and kleenex around...just in case.
we had the RA meeting at 4 PM....me telling them what's up and what possible things to plan for. and where do we go. one RA gave the idea (which we ran with) to do something that night to help people de-compress. we got pizzas and games and picked out a comedy (10 Things I Hate About You) to play. the problem we were dealing with was re-traumatizing. all people did was watch the news...and all you saw over and over again were names and images of destruction. and so we wanted to do something to help people clear their heads. we called the other buildings (there were 3 others in our area) and told them what we were planning, extending an invitation for their residents to come over.
and then I looked at my RA's and went "So what are you guys feeling?" (all-male staff).
one RA put it best..."They stopped our way of living. all the planes are on the ground...they changed how we live."
finally, around midnight, I was able to sit and collect my thoughts and such. and process. thankfully I was able to talk to a friend...he worked in the DC/Virginia area. I knew he worked for the US Government, but not where. we chatted on-line (MSN Messenger), he told me that he has never been to the Pentagon. he arrived at work, there was a Security Guard with a shotgun who told him to go home, so he did.
that's how my day ended. after wards, it was me learning and experiencing. my Uncle was Red Cross at the time (he has since died in 2005) heard about what happened, grabbed his "emergency bag" (2 week stash of clothes and supplies) and left for New York City. he called my Aunt, saying "I am handling things I should never have to touch," and nothing more. 2 weeks later, he came home, to return after 2 weeks for 2 more weeks. his job....taking names of the missing.
so what did I learn? that summer, an exchange student (Muslim) stayed in my building. he is from Pakistan. so I asked him about the Islamic religion. and he put it "You have to realize, in country....90 to 95% or more of the people can not read. they are illiterate. we are told to listen to these people, because they can read the Koran. and these people have perverted my religion to suit their purpose." yup....best way to keep a population down is to keep them uneducated.
and lots more has happened. I have family that gets sent overseas, to Iraq or Afghanistan for deployment. and when he leaves, we watch the news. I have seen things being done that I may or may not agree with regarding freedoms and regulations and what not. I don't argue, I just know its happening for one reason or another. but I know it does have an impact.
as for me, though...its waking up. realizing that we, in the US, have lived a fairly charmed life. we went almost 60 years without any attack on US soil. think about that...before 9/11, the last attack was the bombing of Pearl Habor. and we got complacent. terrorist take over a plane, we had the mindset of "Go with what they want and we'll live." no more. in some ways, I think we realize that our freedom has to be protected...and not just by the military or by the government. we the People of the United States have to be active. in what we do and how we deal with others. for me, that means learning about others, building bridges, and realizing (and fighting against) people who use these attacks as reasons for racism or discrimination. such as a manager saying how he dislikes Arabs...to which I ask him (since he is a Christian) what ethnicity was Christ. it took him a while, until I looked at him and said "Think about it....Israel and Egypt are in the Middle East....you really think Christ was white?"
so yeah, those are my thoughts...kind of disjointed, I know. but that's me. yeah, I remember things. my uncle would speak after wards to groups...he always started with "We all know what we were doing that day" and went from there. and how a generation got a rallying cry. and heroes. true heroes.....firemen and first responders and police officers and those serving in the military. not actors and athletes and musicians. just something to think about.
and in a few days....new blog should be coming!
I was working as a Resident Director at SUNY (State University of New York) Fredonia, about 1 hour south of Buffalo. every Tuesday we had a staff meeting (all the RD's) around 9 AM. we would sit around, talk about the week and upcoming things. typically I sat in the back, took notes, and tried not to fall asleep (I ran an all-male building of about 194 male residents, so I was up late night dealing with issues) and so forth. and here's what I remember.....
phone rings, the Director answers. the secretary had called to tell us a plane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers. huh? we had a TV in the room, so we turned on CNN.
and watched the 2nd plane hit. and both towers collapse. I remember the Assistant Director looking and just saying "Fuck." and then crisis mode hit. one RD had to leave....one of his RA's boyfriend worked in the towers. for me, it was the "counselor crisis mode" of "tertiary" (or dealing with the aftermath of a crisis to minimize the impact) mode. this entailed the following (sorry, the day was a blur):
-getting information ready for my RA's about grief and such. this included handouts and a listing of people from the New York City area. we had a meeting at 4 PM.
-using the chalk boards in the building to communicate information....stuff like "Don't use cell phones" and such.
-having the TV's on. and kleenex around...just in case.
we had the RA meeting at 4 PM....me telling them what's up and what possible things to plan for. and where do we go. one RA gave the idea (which we ran with) to do something that night to help people de-compress. we got pizzas and games and picked out a comedy (10 Things I Hate About You) to play. the problem we were dealing with was re-traumatizing. all people did was watch the news...and all you saw over and over again were names and images of destruction. and so we wanted to do something to help people clear their heads. we called the other buildings (there were 3 others in our area) and told them what we were planning, extending an invitation for their residents to come over.
and then I looked at my RA's and went "So what are you guys feeling?" (all-male staff).
one RA put it best..."They stopped our way of living. all the planes are on the ground...they changed how we live."
finally, around midnight, I was able to sit and collect my thoughts and such. and process. thankfully I was able to talk to a friend...he worked in the DC/Virginia area. I knew he worked for the US Government, but not where. we chatted on-line (MSN Messenger), he told me that he has never been to the Pentagon. he arrived at work, there was a Security Guard with a shotgun who told him to go home, so he did.
that's how my day ended. after wards, it was me learning and experiencing. my Uncle was Red Cross at the time (he has since died in 2005) heard about what happened, grabbed his "emergency bag" (2 week stash of clothes and supplies) and left for New York City. he called my Aunt, saying "I am handling things I should never have to touch," and nothing more. 2 weeks later, he came home, to return after 2 weeks for 2 more weeks. his job....taking names of the missing.
so what did I learn? that summer, an exchange student (Muslim) stayed in my building. he is from Pakistan. so I asked him about the Islamic religion. and he put it "You have to realize, in country....90 to 95% or more of the people can not read. they are illiterate. we are told to listen to these people, because they can read the Koran. and these people have perverted my religion to suit their purpose." yup....best way to keep a population down is to keep them uneducated.
and lots more has happened. I have family that gets sent overseas, to Iraq or Afghanistan for deployment. and when he leaves, we watch the news. I have seen things being done that I may or may not agree with regarding freedoms and regulations and what not. I don't argue, I just know its happening for one reason or another. but I know it does have an impact.
as for me, though...its waking up. realizing that we, in the US, have lived a fairly charmed life. we went almost 60 years without any attack on US soil. think about that...before 9/11, the last attack was the bombing of Pearl Habor. and we got complacent. terrorist take over a plane, we had the mindset of "Go with what they want and we'll live." no more. in some ways, I think we realize that our freedom has to be protected...and not just by the military or by the government. we the People of the United States have to be active. in what we do and how we deal with others. for me, that means learning about others, building bridges, and realizing (and fighting against) people who use these attacks as reasons for racism or discrimination. such as a manager saying how he dislikes Arabs...to which I ask him (since he is a Christian) what ethnicity was Christ. it took him a while, until I looked at him and said "Think about it....Israel and Egypt are in the Middle East....you really think Christ was white?"
so yeah, those are my thoughts...kind of disjointed, I know. but that's me. yeah, I remember things. my uncle would speak after wards to groups...he always started with "We all know what we were doing that day" and went from there. and how a generation got a rallying cry. and heroes. true heroes.....firemen and first responders and police officers and those serving in the military. not actors and athletes and musicians. just something to think about.
and in a few days....new blog should be coming!