Do you remember where you were 10 years ago?
People of older enough remember where and what were they doing when John Kennedy was shot.
I remember I was driving on the freeway, near my home to go to my morning class in Hayward, California. I was enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Studies of Letters and Science program, consisted of long lectures in the morning and discussion in the afternoon.
There is a 3 hour time difference between New York and California. When I woke up the news was already out. I found out about it in my car, driving, turning on NPR, my usual channel. I was shocked but school would go on and I needed to hear what my professors have to say in the lecture.
Mr.Albert, the oldest of the four professors in the program was the lecturer. Even he, at the edge of retirement, an ex-special force, a UC Berkeley graduate, who grew up in Up State New York, had not prepared to give a speech for such an event. Albert was commenting in a calm manner, but the emotions were surging among some students. Some students were angry, others were pleading guilty on behalf of the nation, and the rest seem to be in denial. At least it looked like denial when you were too shocked to say anything thoughtful.
The beautiful morning view of the freeway 13 in front of my old 1988 Honda Accord's wind shield, and the classroom where Mr.Albert stood and tried to make short comments were the only two moments I could remember on that day.
California is a liberal state where most people are not as angry as from the mid west. In one of my UC Berkeley classes, two young White students who said 9.11 needed to happen so Americans would wake up to their wrong-doings. I did not like their statement, neither did it come true in a public way. Most TV stations and newspapers still consist that Americans have never done anything wrong to deserve such attack.
A few people have asked about my opinion about 9.11, and I never had much to say. It is too over-whelming.
A friend of mine said she cried on that 9.11---she said she cried when she saw a man jumped out of a window. I think that sums up what 9.11 is to me. It is a sense of lost innocence.
I never thought that I would come to live in New York when I was watching the burning towers on TV. Towers have often represented military power in history. The sacking of the twin power ushered in this new era to our time. It put New York back to the map, to be the frontier, the fortress. But I prefer it to be just another city where peace and love reign. I will do my part.
Tonight, let us honor the dead.
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