Scubaboarders,
I guess I've been kind of out of touch with the board for the last week. I've lurked a time or two but haven't really spent any time here. It has kind of surprised me how much this all has affected me, physically as well as mentally and emotionally. It has disrupted my sleep, my appetite, and for the last week I have had no sense of focus. I haven't been able to get anything done at work..I mean I haven't been able to focus on anything "normal" at all. I have just been filled with such a sense of shock and sorrow. Seeing Old Glory everywhere lately makes me feel so very proud...and so very sad. It's the same thing that the rest of you are going through I guess. I mourn for people I have never met, but I feel like they are family in some sort of way. This is America and we are family in a sense.
Like my bio says, I'm a news junkie and I have always followed what's going on in different parts of the world. I guess I just find it interesting how the world acts and reacts to each other. I've read alot about the nations, and people, that are involved in this whole screwed up deal and how it has all kind of unfolded over the past couple of decades, and how other nations and people have reacted to the last couple of decades. There may be people out there who hate America, and America may have done things(to other nations as well as other Americans) that were bad, but one thing about America is that we are willing(although sometimes reluctantly) to hold a mirror up to ourselves and try to fix what we see wrong with ourselves. We are willing to strive to be the great nation our forefathers wanted us to be. Many nations won't do that. The freedoms and liberties that are gauranteed us by our constitution and that sometimes are taken for granted by us are not enjoyed by all. We are truly privilaged to live in this country. Hell, even the evil bastards that did this have more freedoms and liberties here, than they do in their homeland. I think that has alot do with why they hate us so much. There were people from many nationalities and religions that were killed in the WTC. Muslims included. This terrible act was not done in the name of any religion. I feel it was more political than anything, and I think it's so very despicable, hypocritical, and cowardly for these people to hide behind the Koran and say they did this in the name of Islam. I am not a muslim, but I do know that Islam does not allow these kind of acts. It angers me to see hate crimes happening in our country against other Americans as a result of this tragedy. Accepting people regardless of race, religon or creed is what makes this country so great...All Men Created Equal...that's what our forefathers were striving for. On the most basic level it's easy to hate people who are "foreigners" but, we are all foreigners, with the exception of the Native Americans. When you look at the world a little closer you see European, as well as Asian countries that do not allow immigration and you see those countries are declining. They have poor economies, an aging population, and there is nobody to take care of the elderly because the younger generations are immigrating to places with better economies(like America). In America we allow immigration, are more accepting of others and we are the strongest nation on earth. It's part of what makes our economy and our nation so strong. I guess I've always been pretty patriotic(as you can probably tell from my ramblings in this post), but I am so proud to see the wave of patriotism that has swept this country.. I think that it hasn't really "swept" this country, that it has been here all along, just kind of hidden under the surface and has been brought out and polished up. I hope(and I believe) that this patriotism won't fade as time goes on. I hope(and I believe) that we as a nation will have the strength to make and stand behind the hard choices that we are going to have to make now and in the years to come to insure that our country stays safe and continues to be the greatest nation on earth.
This last weekend I guess I sort of got myself prepared to get back to "normal", to get out and participate in my life again and I noticed many people doing the same thing. It's not such an easy thing to do, especially for those who have lost someone in this tragedy, or those heroic people who have to continue to go back to ground zero day after day to dig out people they have lost. The fire departments and policemen and women from NYC, and those that have come from all over the country to aid in the rescue and recovery are truly heroes. I see Americans like them and I know we are going to be OK. The evil SOBs who did this cannot defeat the kind of American strength I have seen as a result of this tragedy. I hope(and I believe) that we can keep this strength and do whatever we have to do to keep this country strong. I feel this is the greatest nation on earth and I am proud to be a citizen. God Bless America.
eace:
