Remembering 9/11

It is hard to believe that one of the defining events of our generation has already been 10 years. I know it's cheesy, but I do believe I speak for a lot of people when I say that I still remember it like yesterday. I remember when I just got to the US, one of my teacher said they still remember the exact spot they were when JFK got shot. I thought it was weird, how a person could remember the exact spot. Now I get it. It's a crystallized moment in my consciousness. Not that I ever relive that day, but if I think about it, I still remember the councillor's office, the guy coming in and saying a "small plane" had hit the WTC. 

My cousin was 3 blocks away from the WTC, I was in DC. I couldn't get in touch with her, and I remember the panic that set in at school. But this post isn't about that day. This post is about how that day changed our collective psyche. From that day forward, we look at Muslims in "traditional garb" different, figured out where Afghanistan was, "jihad" became ingrained in our lexicon, airport security has the right to violate most any of your 4th amendment rights. 

We also sent 3000+ kids to their deaths and countless more Afghans and Iraqis. 

Are we safer? Sure, nothing has happened since and Osama bin Laden is dead. But we're still in Iraq and Afghanistan. The news station still claim that every other week there's an "imminent threat" and terrorists have some new schemes. 

For a guy who flies at least twice a week, out of the airport where the plane that hit the Pentagon took off, and is at the airport where the other 3 planes took off from at least once a month, I'm constantly reminded of the fact. Of course, we need to forgive and we will never forget. But we must also not forget what has happened due to that day. It changed the American psyche, and I believe not for the good. Let's take today not just to remember those who were lost, but also what makes us Americans. The fact that we are the most embracing national in this world, that we will not be governed by fear, and that though it might hurt, but we can not and will not sacrifice freedom for security. 

United we stand.