reflections

MAN! I had a REALLY good idea of what to write tonight, but I totally forgot what it was...
I need to write these things down...
Instead I will reflect on where I was 9 years and one day ago.
I was sleeping.
I was working the 2nd shift at a milk company, as such my routine was to sleep until 10ish then get up, eat lunch, watch Hogan's Heroes, then go to work. Good times. I was living at home in Roseville and I had a very small bed that was horribly uncomfortable... Anyway, I was sleeping when my mom ran into my room freaking out saying, "You were right! The Muslims are taking over!" I don't recall where we were going, but not too long before 9/11 my mom and sister and I were driving somewhere and I said I thought our nation's greatest threat was crazy muslims- not exactly an original thought, but certainly one of depth for a 2nd shift forklift driver, if I say so myself.
So my mom woke me up and I ran downstairs to the living room TV to see the fire on Tower 1. No more than 2 minutes after I sat down the second plane crashed into #2. I flipped out. I'm pretty sure I screamed as I got to my feet in utter shock. I was already sick of Dan Rather's commentary, by the way, and it only got worse after hour 19 of continuing coverage... I digress.
My mom was on the phone trying to get a hold of my dad who was a pastor's conference. Eventually she got a a hold of him, I think because I remember her saying the pastors were all in prayer about the situation. I pictured 40 men nearly on their knees urgently and fervently praying for our land and their families and I was oddly comforted. I have no idea what the atmosphere was actually like there, but I like my little picture. The idea of a group of pastors praying together is a powerful one to me... again, I digress...
I, like the rest of America, was glued to the TV. I just couldn't believe what was happening. Then the Pentagon got hit... when I heard about the Pennsylvania plane and I thought they shot it down- like we shot it down before it could do any damage... who knows what really happened... Then the towers fell completely... wow.
Such a horrible feeling of desperation and confusion- and I was in Minnesota, 1200 miles away from any of the goings on.
I recall going to work in a daze- looking in the sky for any planes... you never know, ya know... The radio was telling of all the church potlucks and lady's guild meetings that were canceled in case of attack- that made me laugh. I can see Bin Laden's agenda: NYC, D.C., St. John's Lutheran Church Willmar, MN... they'd never see it coming. ha!
Or the fact that the IDS tower was evacuated was a little silly to me, but then again I didn't work there, so I guess I don't have a right to an opinion. The MOA closing made more sense to me- being that it's big, near an airport, and the epitome of consumerism. Thank God it wasn't a target...
We all stopped working when Bush addressed the nation for the first time. They had it playing over the loudspeakers. You could hear a pin drop in the 100,000 square foot mild cooler that is literally in motion round the clock. It was such a weird time.
I will never forget the gas line coming out of the Sinclair on the corner of the factory. People were so afraid gas would be in shortage (I thin Dan Rather said there would be...) It had to be 25 cars deep. I don't recall how long it lasted, but perhaps the most eerie thing about the whole ordeal was the grounding of all planes. For days there was nothing man made in the sky. It was a silence that I wasn't used to in the city, you know? Just weird. And then the first planes that flew the week or so later- that was a little trippy. I was looking at something 10,000 feet in the air with skepticism for a little while there.

It was such a crazy, crazy time. I truly and wholeheartedly pray that it is the last time our nation has to go through such fear and confusion. It's crazy to think that the majority of my youth were too young to remember that day. Even yesterday- it wasn't about remembering, it was about arguing about nut case "Christians" who want 15 minutes of fame and talking-heads who think they know what they're talking about... gross. The fact is, we're a mere generation away from forgetting... wow.