On That Day

September 11, 2001 started out like any other day for me. I woke up and had brunch and caught the bus to my volunteer job. I don't recall hearing anything out of the ordinary on the bus.

At that time I was a Computer Assistant at Laurel Enterprises here in Victoria. My job was to help clients become comfortable with computers and help them with email, Internet searches, and using various software programs. On September 11th I used a lot of my computer skills and my people skills.

I knew something was wrong when I arrived and I couldn't believe what I heard. We couldn't get very good reports from the radio so I went searching on the Internet. The American and Canadian websites were jammed so I tried the BBC and was successful. The BBC had a continuous live broadcast that brought the horror to our workplace.

We watched in silence the events being replayed in the news. The fear and anger could be felt by anyone entering the room. When people came in for coffee they too stopped and watched. We managed to get some things done that day, but we kept returning to the broadcast. It was a terrible feeling knowing that it was all true.

That night I watched more web broadcasts and I finally had to drag myself away. Sometimes I thought the US should Nuke the perpetrators when found. Sometimes I just didn't want any more violence.

Three years later we are still coming to grips with a world that slays innocents so freely and callously. The slaying of innocents is nothing new, but now the blood appears in our homes via television or the Internet. Rather than becoming desensitized to the violence hopefully we can find ways to end it.

I will leave you tonight with a poem, a picture, and something to think about.

Peace.