The World is Branded

9/11/01

Have you ever smelled a burning body? Let me tell you first hand, it’s a smell you can never forget. I know that my blog entries are usually cheerful or enlightening, but in honor of those who perished on September 11, 2001, I wanted to share a personal story about witnessing the worst attack in American history from the suburbs of New York.

Now you might think that growing up in the suburbs of New York, nestled safely miles away, I’d feel safe from anything that went on in the city; however, this one day changed my perspective on that false security. September 11 was a day that I can never forget. Although my blood-related family was not affected by this tragedy, my other family, the city of New York, suffered greatly, and in that suffering overcame, as did I.

At the time, I was only 12 years old, but I’ll never forget the beautiful weather that morning - it was a typical early September day with warm temperatures, crystal blue skies, and a subtle hint of fall’s chill. School had just begun only a week earlier, and I was still getting acclimated to my 8th grade classes. To me, it was an ordinary day, as it was to every student and teacher hustling through the hallways to their first classes. Little did I know that at that very moment, hundreds of lives were being accelerated over the Hudson toward Ground Zero - we were 10 minutes away from one of the greatest tragedies of our lives.

At about 9:00 in the morning, a rumor started buzzing around the school that a plane had hit into one of the Twin Towers. Now, I had heard about planes hitting New York skyscrapers before. In fact, a small aircraft once flew into the Empire State Building in 1945. As a result, I thought nothing much of the event - I figured that this was probably just a small little Cessna that had lost control and hit into the building, maybe hurting a few people in the tower and killing the pilot. As such, I just continued on with my business, thinking about how awful it must have been for those few people to experience in the city. Still, this was New York - accidents happened every day.

As the day progressed, there grew a somber presence across the school that I could never describe and hope none of you ever experience. Although I didn’t know anything else about the events that had unfolded, I knew that something was terribly wrong - teachers were crying in the hallways, students were being called to meet with their guidance counselors, and the blue sky seemed to turn a hint of gray. Even on such a warm day, there was a certain grim chill that relentlessly whispered through the hallways and made its way into every classroom. The emotion was similar to feeling as if you were being followed through a dark alley on a foggy night. I still get chills up my spine and goosebumps across my arms just thinking about it.

Finally, an announcement was made during 7th period that all 8th period teachers were to cancel their scheduled class lessons to speak with us. Walking into my Social Studies class, I was expecting the worst, and that’s exactly what I got. In a very calm voice, my teacher simply took a few minutes to explain to us what had happened and provided an open invitation for anyone who needed to see their guidance counselor to do so. Besides an occasional question from one of my peers, the rest of the period was spent in silence - students whispered to each other in the classroom, and I could see people walking through the hallway with tears streaming down their ashen faces. Although I knew that my family was safe, I was still struck with terror that I couldn’t even properly comprehend - my dad worked in midtown, and so many questions went unanswered. What exactly happened? Why did it happen? Who was hurt? Were my friends and their families safe? Would there be another attack? What did this all mean?

Six hours after the attack, I was finally home, and this was the first time I was going to see it all on television. Sure enough, when I turned on the news and saw the empty space where the towers once stood, my heart jumped to my throat. I had all of these memories of driving through the city and passing by the Twin Towers, staring straight up at their grandeur. In fact, I could even see the towers from a few high points in my neighborhood. Watching the towers erupt into flames and fall to the ground like two dominos was unfathomable; I honestly couldn’t believe what I was witnessing, and at 12 years old, I still didn’t get it. Rumors had swirled around about terrorism. What was terrorism? Why would somebody purposely kill themselves and send a plane into the World Trade Center… and the Pentagon… and a field in Pennsylvania? Were there going to be more attacks? Was I safe? Would I ever be safe?

September 11 was a day that will always be impossible to forget, and for several days after the attack, the eastward-bound wind carried the smell of smokey metal and burning flesh through my neighborhood, bringing with it the inescapable reality of those who had perished and the lives that were changed. I’ll never forget that smell; I’ll never forget that day.

Every year since, I’ve stared at the memorial lights outside my bedroom window at my parents’ house. To me, the lights serve as a reminder of what we take for granted in this world. Truthfully, we often lose consciousness of our own mortality and forget to take check of our lives. In reality, our lives are truly precious, and they can be taken away in a mere instant - whether through acts of natural disaster, sudden illness, or incredulous hatred. I hope I never take my life for granted, as I hope you never take your own.

In honor of those who perished, feel free to share your stories.

Do you realize that you’re in a constant competition? Darwin calls this Survival of the Fittest - species that adapt to their environment, survive attacks from their predators, and succeed in attacks against their prey are the species that survive agains the odds. Despite Darwin’s theories, I’m speaking outside the realm of natural evolution; I’m talking about the competitions that you encounter every day. Like Tiger Woods on the green, Michael Jordan on the court, or Derek Jeter on the field, you come face-to-face with competition every single day. The only challenge is how you approach the game: are you the type of person who fights aggressively, plans strategically, or cowers on the sidelines?

Let’s make this conversation a little less cryptic. Every day, you’re fighting for something, usually against another person - you fight for the top grade in a class, a new job, a date, that promotion you’ve been waiting for, or even the winning lottery ticket. These battles extend into your career, your love life, your friendships, your wallets, and so many other deep aspects of your life. How can you win the face-off? That all depends on how you market yourself as a combatant, and more importantly, how you follow through with those decisions. Which type of combatant are you?

The first type of combatant is an aggressive warrior. You probably have some of these warriors in your life: they cheat on exams, lie during job interviews, rat on their coworkers, flirt with your crush behind your back, and actively fight for what they truly want. Acting on impulse, they’ll stop at nothing to win the game, despite how their actions might affect other people. For the most part, aggressive warriors are strong, egotistic, cunning, agile, and often cold. Still, most of them are too proud (or perhaps too cowardly) to acknowledge the lives that they destroy in their pursuit. Like a running-back, all they can see is the end zone, and all they want is a touchdown. Think about whether or not you fit into this category.

The second combatant is a strategic planner. These individuals use their strong intellect, patience, logical reasoning, and personal desires to attain their goals. They can best be associated with chess players and golfers. As such, they think before they act - they consider all possible alternatives and all potential obstacles before making their moves. Perhaps their greatest flaw is that they can often act slowly, taking too much time to think about a course of action, and therefore missing out on certain opportunities. Nevertheless, think twice before facing off against a strategic planner; they’re often sneaky and can sometimes act against your interests without your awareness. Are you a strategic planner?

The third combatant is a passive observer. You can think of these individuals as second-string players on the sidelines. Admirably, these combatants are often compassionate, thoughtful, altruistic, and sometimes nervous or cowardly; however, their meek qualities come at the expense of personal gain. Most passive observers watch their lives pass by before their eyes - they watch other people land the jobs they want, take the people they love, and earn the money they crave. While many of them might appear satisfied on the surface, most of them wish they were more like strategic planners or aggressive warriors. They strive on encouragement and wait for opportunities to fall into their laps, and when this happens, they feel as if their time waiting was well spent. Perhaps you fit into this category.

Despite these blunt personalities, most of us fall into a hybrid category. Depending on the situation, we choose to be an aggressive warrior, a strategic planner, or a passive observer, and most of us have had our fair share of all three. Generally, our decision is based upon the severity of the situation - if you’re interviewing for a job that you need but not necessarily one that you want, you might choose to passively fight for the position; if you’re fighting against another coworker for a promotion, you might strategically plan how to position yourself against your competitor so that you end up as the victor; and if you’re about to watch the love of your life slip away, you might choose to take the role of an aggressive warrior, fighting desperately for the person you love.

Regardless of which path you choose, inevitably, you fit into one of these categories, and like an athlete, you fight every day to win your respective games. Life as we know it is about competition. The only question is, as which type of competitor do you market yourself? Like Darwin says, life is “Survival of the Fittest”. How do you ensure that you are the fittest?