Mornings are usually a noisy affair. The builders across the street seem to have their watches syncronised and as the little hand reaches eight a cacophony of hammer on steel begins - if they ever take the day off then I'll be late for work. This morning though there was an added commotion. For a good 5 minutes sirens wailed and fire trucks raced by, their foghorns blaring no doubt there was an emergency somewhere but today it was an eerie way to start the day. There were blanket blue skies outside and five years ago I hear the weather was much the same, I imagine the sounds were significantly louder and more sustained back then though.
For every generation there is a "where were you when..." moment. September 11, 2001 is ours. Personally I was on a 'late shift' at work in London. I had got to my desk at 1.45pm and switched on the TV to catch the CNN coverage just after the first plane had hit one of the World Trade Centers. It was a very long day after that and I guess the world hasn't been the same for any of us since.
I'm not usually one for mass compulsions but today I really did want to head down to the Trade Center Site to take a walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Obviously it was pretty chocker. The young, the old, tourists, families, those in uniform - everyone seemed to have adopted a gentle-paced amble around the narrow streets. Commemorative events could be found in many locations from a walk-in music recital in Trinity Church to a very quaint British Memorial hidden away in the backstreets for the 67 Britons killed in the attack; it began with a pipe band, was guested by Prince Andrew and Jack Straw and included an honour guard of 67 British police officers; there were performances from a brass band from the West Yorkshire Police, the choir from St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and a Welsh soprano. It was a little bit of Britain in a skyscrapered corner of Manhattan - music and song echoing around the concrete amphitheatre; and it was just as comforting to see those same uniformed "bobbies" walking around the city later enjoying the sites before flying back home.
The WTC site itself was understandably less sedate. Thousands flowed past the enormous open space; flowers, poems, photographs, ribbons, flags - the fencing was adorned with memories. Probably the most striking though were the debates and mass demonstrations taking place. Quite simply they were split between those who believe that terrorists were behind 9/11 and those who don't. "An Inside Job" stated one banner, "Don't Believe The Lies" on another; a sea of black T-shirts emblazoned with "Investigate 9/11" massed behind a megaphoned speaker chanting and then marching off into the streets. The basic argument seemed to be that the buildings didn't fall as a result of the planes crashing into them but instead well placed explosives within the structures of many of the towers were the reason for their demise. There are some who believe that a plane never actually crashed into the Pentagon at all and that a missile was to blame for the devestation. Allegedly all this was part of a grand scheme by the government to declare war with selected regimes around the world.
Believe what you want. I thought Jay Leno summed the subject up well at the end of his chat show tonight, "Our government is not bright enough to carry out something like that..." Nevertheless, as the Tribute in Lights shines up into the sky this evening, the irony still lies in an event that so united a country in grief but very much divided it over their government's reaction.
Believe what you want. I thought Jay Leno summed the subject up well at the end of his chat show tonight, "Our government is not bright enough to carry out something like that..." Nevertheless, as the Tribute in Lights shines up into the sky this evening, the irony still lies in an event that so united a country in grief but very much divided it over their government's reaction.
