WHERE WERE YOU?
I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001. I was interrupted by a friend who phoned and asked if I had my TV on. He urged me to stop what I was doing and turn it on. I stopped what I was doing, turned the TV on and watched the second plane fly into the second tower. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.
Those twin towers were a loud declaration of America’s soaring ambition, global dominance, innovation and technological prowess. They rose over 400 meters above the harbor, had 24 km of elevator shafts and some 44,000 windows that took 20 days to wash. The Trade Center complex was so large that it had its own zip code.
To build such tall towers, they needed exceeding strong foundations. The engineers dug a huge rectangular hole seven stories down to bed rock. The 1.2 Millon cubic yards of soil dug up were used to add 23 acres to Lower Manhattan. The towers used 200,000 tons of steel and according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, enough concrete to run a sidewalk between New York City and Washington, D.C.
They broke ground for the project in 1966 and brought it to completion in 1975 after overcoming community opposition, design and construction setbacks, attempted sabotage by New York real estate rivals and major challenges. The final cost, over $1 billion, far beyond the original budget of $280 million.
Ada Louise Huxtable, an architectural critic for The New York Times, gave this prescient warning back in 1966 – “The trade-center towers could be the start of a new skyscraper age or the biggest tombstones in the world.” Little did this lady realize that 35 years later those towers would become a tombstone.
The dastardly events of 9/11/2001 still bring a strong mixed message to those who will hear.
1. It screams out a message warning us of unbridled intolerance. I may take a differing point of view than you on politics, education, economics or religion but that does not give me the right to despise or obliterate you. Worth and value are not established on the foundation of ideological conformity.
2. At the same time we see an outpouring of sacrificial giving. First responders and caring civilians spent tedious hours digging through rubble in search of those trapped. People on all sides of the political religious spectrum responded to the cry for help. Ordinary common people emerge as heroes when disaster threatens our security.
3. Disasters, trauma and life-threatening events help us separate between what is worthless and what is precious. What was important in the morning of the 9/11 events faded into obscurity by mid- afternoon. We get brought face to face with the question, “What really is valuable to us.”
4. Trauma and disastrous events help us review our life and give thanks for what we have. In fact shortly after you receive this paper, we will be celebrating thanksgiving. In preparation for Thanksgiving I encourage you to write a list of the most important things for which you are thankful. What are things in your spouse, children, work, friends, or anything else in life, for which you can give thanks? Gratitude is an attitude that changes the trajectory of your life.
9/11 reminds us that power, possessions and positions can be wiped out in a minute. Character is eternal. Chose character and I’ll see you at the top.
Duane Harder
Free Classifieds