It Wasn't a Joke

To commemorate the first anniversary of September 11, 2001, Cloudjammer's principals each relate, in their own way, where they were and what they felt that morning.

I had been in New York three weeks before September 11th visiting friends and site seeing. We had gone to the tops of as many sky scrapers as we could and, sure enough, on our last day went to the World Trade Center. I was so excited to be on top of the free world. You could see 45 miles in each direction. The sky was bright blue and clear. I was with my good friends Bryan and Jason. We thought we were on the most indestructible piece of architecture in the world. Little did we know what would happen.

I woke up from a restful sleep and was ready to attack a beautiful day. I was off to work with no traffic yet an awkward feeling was rumbling in my stomach. I entered work at Earthlink, the second largest ISP in the nation, and found the calling center in a bewildering silence. Usually the call center is full of laughs and talking people ready to catch the next customer. But for some reason the calls were few and far between. Around 9:00 the technical age halted.

I came in to the office and started up my computer. I usually check CNN or the Atlanta Journal Constitution to see what went on the day before, but to my surprise I was not able to get to these sites or any other up to date news site. I was puzzled… I then asked my good friend Gill what was going on. He asked if I had heard that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. I had no idea. I franticly searched for a website and even kept taking calls to see if anyone customers knew of the incident. I thought Gill was kidding and went on with my daily grind. Gill always jokes around and, being as gullible as I can be sometimes, I thought that he was trying to trick me. He came back and told me again to stop working and come check out the news report that he had gotten from BBC news. This was one of the few sites that was still accessible. I was astonished, scared and, sad. I didn't know what to feel. Eventually the floor manager rolled in a 56 inch TV that barely could get reception. Sure enough, someone had captured the most gruesome footage I have ever seen — we thought we were watching a trailer to a new Hollywood movie. We were watching live footage of the worst act on American soil since Pearl Harbor.

The report on TV, September 11, 2001, will never be erased form my mind. I called a couple of friends over to watch and just be together. We just sat quiet and confused. The web of American life, and life as we knew it, had been hit and taken advantage of. I wanted to find out how this could happen and why. I remember the whole city of Atlanta seemed to shut down. People were frantic – buying as much food as they could stock up on , assuming the worst as if a snow storm was coming to cover Atlanta’s streets for weeks.

Our little utopia had been stuck hard. Yet, within those moments of inhumanity, humanity reigned and people of all nationalities came together and helped each other get though the devastation.

I called my grandfather, a Navy veteran of World War II, and asked his opinion of such a thing. All he could say was to get ready, be fit, and learn all you can. I took that advice remembering that war America had won. I was confident we would win this war, too.

It has been a year, now. My grandfather has passed away and the strong castle of our country has done everything it could to hold on to every value and belief that we have while living under the threat of something that may come and try to hurt our outer walls.

I am writing this article to share my thoughts on the confusion, the peace, the war, and the love I I have for this country. I have traveled all over the world and have seen the happy, the sick, the depressed, the war torn, and the stable. As a small community we can uphold our values and beliefs. As a county, filled with many communities large and small believing in one country under God, we will defeat anything that comes our way and threatens those beliefs. My father said that with every punch from a bully makes you stronger. You learn from your mistakes and you move on to out smart your antagonists.

The United Sates is a young county with ancient ideas. We are finally able to have a government that respects it people the best way it can while still up holding its values and beliefs. Terrorism will not beat us. We have fought too long and too hard to become a country that welcomes all races, religions and nationalities. fb