The Fall of Man
Sep. 11th, 2001 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariToday was the day I lost my faith in humanity.
Yes, it was the hijackings. But that's not all of it.
I've had shaky faith in the Human Race for a very long time now. Generally over man's unnecessary hostility to other men. Watching children attack each other because they are different. Road rage. Perpetual assholes. Spousal abuse. Dodgeball.
But I've always had somerthing to look up to, best crystallized by Babylon 5's Delenn: "The power of one mind to change the Universe."
And I saw that motto, today, go terribly terribly wrong.
I saw the orders of one man translate into the death of roughly 150 innocent airline passengers, 300 police and firefighters. I saw the orders of one man translate into the entombment of thousands of people, dead or alive beneath three skyscrapers. Possibly five by the time I wake up tomorrow. No amount of hope, beyond divine intervention will heal that scar.
But I also saw the orders of one man turn the people around me into monsters. On my way from San Antonio to Austin, I listened to KTSA and KLBJ talk radio. Call after call came in, occasionally one got through that offered hope and prayers. Most though were so hostile. And scary.
CALLER
I want them to nuke
Iraq until it glows.
KTSA
You do realize that
if Bin Lauden is
involved, that would
be Afghanistan.
CALLER
Then nuke the whole
Middle East. THIS
IS AMERICA! WE CAN
DO IT.
Call after call, most cut off because of expletives and hatreds. Calls for a World War against arabs...calls about rounding up people who don't like the US. People calling in saying Bush of all people did this to get people to think he's a courageous president. And this wasn't just radio. Watching Palestinians and Afghanis cheer the deaths of so many people. Watching Americans call for the deaths of anyone and everyone connected to the Middle East. Ugly doesn't even begin to describe the Human Race at this moment.
There is no hope for the Human Race. We should let the fire burn itself out.
My day yesterday went pretty well. I woke up late, was unable to get home before the end of the business day, so I ended up depositing the money and hoping the check didn't post.
The trip to San Antonio was pretty uneventful, and once there, my mother told me that she had borrowed her friends car. Considering I'm not going anywhere, I offered her my truck. She gladly accepted. We went out to drop her friends car off, and we went out for Chinese food. There I saw Ben, and old friend. I hadn't seen him in several years, and we parted company on bad terms. But he seemed happy to see me. We went home, and I stayed up late. Told my dad I met Ben. I shouldn't have done that.
That night, I had a wierd dream, and heard a faint voice tell me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I found out this was my mom. After I woke up, I saw what had happened...The graphic video of a 767 plane banking into the 2nd tower. I was pretty shaken up, and so was my mother. And I think it hit us much harder than we expected. My mother works for Southwest Airlines, and she's flown, literally, hundreds of times. I've flown more than thirty or forty flights. To see the airlners I've trusted so much, plough into two buildings. To know the SIZE and SPEED those fly at. It really popped us for a loop.
In one of the episodes of The Polychronicon, the Tower of Americas topples. And now that I've seen the terror of today, I think I'll need to rewrite that episode. It's too chilling to see it happen in real life.
I heard one of the planes landed less than a hundred miles from State College. In a town I had visited once. Chilling.
We drove home mostly silently. We drove by San Antonio International Airport. It's very strange to see no planes taking off or in the air. No contrails in the sky. San Antonio is a very military city, and very busy airwise with two airports and three Air Force Bases. But today, nothing. Deadly silence.
I felt the need to archive this...Six hours of CNN/CBS coverage is on tape, now. We packed quite a bit of the house...half my stuff is now in San Antonio. I'm definately not the person i was a few years ago. Boxes are heavy as heck. I popped myself in the mammary with the leg of a stool. I'm gonna be hurtin' tomorrow.
And now I'm here, in an increasingly empty house, watching horrifyingly terrible things on TV. And weeping for the Fall of Man.
Update:
"What about the rescue efforts?"
There are people who are good, yes. They need to be recognized, and applauded.
The majority of humans are not.
"We should let them pass." --Kosh
Yes, it was the hijackings. But that's not all of it.
I've had shaky faith in the Human Race for a very long time now. Generally over man's unnecessary hostility to other men. Watching children attack each other because they are different. Road rage. Perpetual assholes. Spousal abuse. Dodgeball.
But I've always had somerthing to look up to, best crystallized by Babylon 5's Delenn: "The power of one mind to change the Universe."
And I saw that motto, today, go terribly terribly wrong.
I saw the orders of one man translate into the death of roughly 150 innocent airline passengers, 300 police and firefighters. I saw the orders of one man translate into the entombment of thousands of people, dead or alive beneath three skyscrapers. Possibly five by the time I wake up tomorrow. No amount of hope, beyond divine intervention will heal that scar.
But I also saw the orders of one man turn the people around me into monsters. On my way from San Antonio to Austin, I listened to KTSA and KLBJ talk radio. Call after call came in, occasionally one got through that offered hope and prayers. Most though were so hostile. And scary.
I want them to nuke
Iraq until it glows.
KTSA
You do realize that
if Bin Lauden is
involved, that would
be Afghanistan.
CALLER
Then nuke the whole
Middle East. THIS
IS AMERICA! WE CAN
DO IT.
Call after call, most cut off because of expletives and hatreds. Calls for a World War against arabs...calls about rounding up people who don't like the US. People calling in saying Bush of all people did this to get people to think he's a courageous president. And this wasn't just radio. Watching Palestinians and Afghanis cheer the deaths of so many people. Watching Americans call for the deaths of anyone and everyone connected to the Middle East. Ugly doesn't even begin to describe the Human Race at this moment.
There is no hope for the Human Race. We should let the fire burn itself out.
My day yesterday went pretty well. I woke up late, was unable to get home before the end of the business day, so I ended up depositing the money and hoping the check didn't post.
The trip to San Antonio was pretty uneventful, and once there, my mother told me that she had borrowed her friends car. Considering I'm not going anywhere, I offered her my truck. She gladly accepted. We went out to drop her friends car off, and we went out for Chinese food. There I saw Ben, and old friend. I hadn't seen him in several years, and we parted company on bad terms. But he seemed happy to see me. We went home, and I stayed up late. Told my dad I met Ben. I shouldn't have done that.
That night, I had a wierd dream, and heard a faint voice tell me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I found out this was my mom. After I woke up, I saw what had happened...The graphic video of a 767 plane banking into the 2nd tower. I was pretty shaken up, and so was my mother. And I think it hit us much harder than we expected. My mother works for Southwest Airlines, and she's flown, literally, hundreds of times. I've flown more than thirty or forty flights. To see the airlners I've trusted so much, plough into two buildings. To know the SIZE and SPEED those fly at. It really popped us for a loop.
In one of the episodes of The Polychronicon, the Tower of Americas topples. And now that I've seen the terror of today, I think I'll need to rewrite that episode. It's too chilling to see it happen in real life.
I heard one of the planes landed less than a hundred miles from State College. In a town I had visited once. Chilling.
We drove home mostly silently. We drove by San Antonio International Airport. It's very strange to see no planes taking off or in the air. No contrails in the sky. San Antonio is a very military city, and very busy airwise with two airports and three Air Force Bases. But today, nothing. Deadly silence.
I felt the need to archive this...Six hours of CNN/CBS coverage is on tape, now. We packed quite a bit of the house...half my stuff is now in San Antonio. I'm definately not the person i was a few years ago. Boxes are heavy as heck. I popped myself in the mammary with the leg of a stool. I'm gonna be hurtin' tomorrow.
And now I'm here, in an increasingly empty house, watching horrifyingly terrible things on TV. And weeping for the Fall of Man.
Update:
"What about the rescue efforts?"
There are people who are good, yes. They need to be recognized, and applauded.
The majority of humans are not.
"We should let them pass." --Kosh
