Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sunday: The Day of Supposed Rest

So, it's Sunday: the day of supposed rest. Just got home to an empty house. The dog is getting a bath and mani/peti (you guys may not get this), so I thought I would just type some of my thoughts while I have the house to myself. And then I will watch football all day.

So far, it's been a good weekend. I'll be honest, I didn't watch much news. I know, I'm such a hypocrite. Here I tell you that you should be informed citizens, and I am not following my own advice. But I knew that yesterday was an emotional time for me in my life and honestly, I didn't want to revisit those emotions.

First of all, yesterday was Patriot Day. A day of remembrance for the fallen on September 11, 2001. It is hard to believe that it has been nine years. I still remember that Tuesday very vividly. I was in college attending Baker University, the Harvard of the Midwest as it is also known. I was sitting in a classroom at Lawrence High School observing the class for the course Teaching Social Studies in the Secondary Classroom. I remember driving my green, 98 Saturn that morning listening to my CD player, which was connected through the tape deck. I didn't listen to much news or really have a greater sense of the world around me at that time. I was just living day to day trying to get by.

As I walked into the classroom of Mr. Mike, I can't remember his last name, nothing was out of the ordinary. I was looking sharp in my khaki pants and red, short sleeve polo shirt. They were most likely wrinkled, but I was in college and lucky they were clean. A short time after, a friend of mine (Jerry Hunsaker) taking the same course as I walked into the room. He had this look on his face like as something was up. Before he could even sit down, he asked me if I had heard about the twin towers? I did not know. He immediately informed me that a plane had crashed into the twin towers in New York City. Mr. Mike was on his computer, and again this is in 2001, so high speed Internet was not around. It took several minutes for online stories to come up. Then, an announcement. It was the principal of the school, and he gave a brief description of what was going on. "It is unconfirmed, but it appears the United States is under terrorist attack." The time was approximately 7:30 pacific time, 10:30 eastern time. By then, all three planes had reached their target and a fourth went down in a field in Pennsylvania. What was going on?

This is all what was talked about throughout the day. By the time I had left around noon, I was numb. I had so many questions. Most obvious, why? Why was this happening? Classes at Baker were cancelled on Wednesday, and I remember talking to history professor and social science department chair Dr. Karen Exon that same day. I could tell she was quite shocked as well. Really didn't have many answers to my questions, and if she did, I don't remember them. I do remember crying. Almost sobbing. This was a big wake-up call to our nation. We had been attacked for the first time in almost seventy years. But this was different. Or so I thought.

I used this time as an opportunity to question, research, critically think, synthesize, analyze, and find the answers to my questions. I became a believer in being an informed citizen. It was our obligation to know what is going on in the world around us. We seem to be consumed and sometimes overwhelmed with our own daily lives that we sometimes lose touch of reality. True, most of the news in this country is not good. Occasionally, you get a story that brings up something good that was done to benefit the lives of others. However, this is few and far between. But, if we have passion, motivation, dedication, a will to take action, and truly invoke change in our country, then this is the purpose of being informed. Change is a necessary component of our world, but the results of that change depends on today's citizen.

In close, it is important to know what's going on in the world. If the topic in class doesn't turn you on, then you need to find some aspect of the topic that does. You owe it to yourself and to this country to be informed. Yesterday was a day of national service to honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Ask yourself one question: What will I do today to benefit the lives of others? Thanks for reading. If you read this and post a comment, I will give you extra credit.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow Mr.Palo u have a good memory

jesse said...

very good memory mr palo. i only remembering seeing it on the channel 9 news and my mom telling me i caant go to school that day. it didnt hit the next day what had happened. yesterday i went to the angels game(although i am a dodger fan) with my best friend and they had a huge flag and a moment of silence and the crowd, for once, was completly silent. it was a very nice way to pay respect for those who lost their lives that tragic day.

glorious said...

I remember I watched the report on t.v that morning I was getting ready for school and at that time living in Chicago, Illinois. My mom and I sat in the living room talking to my dad on the phone, I went to school that day and teachers explained to us what was going on which only ignited fear in third grade students.

Alberto H. said...

I can not remember that day exactly. But I do remember that I went to school without knowing anything. I think a teacher told the class what was happening but I didn’t get to see any images of the attack till I got home. I remember getting home to see my family in the living room, all of them speechless. And the first thing that I saw on TV was the first tower falling to the ground. Other then that it’s a blur on what happen on that day. Know that I think of it, it’s a shame that I can’t remember anything else. How will I be able to tell other what happened on that day, where I was, and my reactions to it.

Nancyy_27 said...

So is that what inspired you to be an informed citizen Mr. Palo? Well, I can't really remember anything except that I woke up to get ready for school and I decided to turn on the T.V. to watch some cartoons like I always did in the mornings before school. I was going through the channels to find any cartoon as I heard my mom say "wait! Leave it there mija" (haha)and I was like "why?" and I was watching the lady reporter's face and I didn't really understand what she was talking about. I was just trying to figure out why she looked so scared and serious. I tried asking my mom what was happening but she didn't think I would understand. So she didnt tell me. I wish I remembered more. but gosh I can't imagine how devistating that must have been. God bless those who lost their lives that day and their families..

Eugene Pantea said...

All that i remember is that i was on summer vacation, i also remember my mom talking about it but back then it did not make much sense to me. but what i do remember is when i whent back to school my teacher was talking to us about it and then it made a little more sense to me.

Ambii said...

Wow... reading all these comments and what you had stated makes me want to cry. That day was a very traggic day. I dont remeber much much but I remember my teacher started to cry and it made me cry out of shock. Last year Ms. Thrasher was my U.S. History teacher and we had watch a documentory about this firerfighter and it was the during the time of the attack. These two brother were the ones doing the documertary. At one point they were sepperated and they each thought the other one was gone. Watching this just made me break down because there was a point were you could literally hear the bodies of the people who jumped out of the windows hitting the ground and the roofs. This made me think, "wow, its so bad that they're chosing to jump out of the windows so far above the ground". Thinking about this makes me want to cry. And wow this topic and this memory makes me actually want to be enformed...

Andrea said...

I don't remember much of that day because I was little and nothing made any sense. I remember being in Elementary School and instead of doing our normal activities, we all sat and watched the news. I remember all the kids started crying when we saw the towers falling and the people screaming. I didn't know what to do but just stare.

Angie said...

On the day that the twin towers fell, I was in elementary school. I remember everyone freaking out about it and my parents and teachers trying to tell us what happened, but truthfully at that time I really didnt care. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but honestly at that age I didnt fully understand what had happened. I was in the protective bubble of my mind and life at school. I remember people being angry with me because I couldnt understand that it was a huge tragedy that occured, but all I remember was thinking that it was a bother to have to stand outside while my teacher did a long speech about it that I didnt listen to. I know it sounds horrible, but its the truth and I am proud to say that I now understand and I feel differently about it.

TracieLynn said...

Hey!")

amber said...

I remember just a little of the day the twin towers went down. I was only 8 and I was "off track" from school. I woke up to my mom downstairs crying and she tells me to look at the tv and thats where I saw the planes hitting the towers. I didn't quite understand any of it because
I was so young, but my parents kind of told me and my brother about it and how big of a deal it was. I learned the following year how important it was when my elementary school had a ceremony on its first anniversary. I was pretty scared because of the things the news would say so its not something easy to forget.

Patricia ( : said...

Yeahh, I remember this day. I was only a little girl living in Oregon. I was playing with my cousins when my grandma was watching the news, I saw the images of the first explosion. But, I soon lost intrest and kept playing. Of course as a litle girl I didnt understand what was going on. But now I, and so many others understand the significance of that day.

BrianCaceres6 said...

All I remember is watching the news listening to my brother and dad talk. I had no clue what was going on but I remember going around in school talking about it. I remember the teachers crying and kids crying. cant believe 9 years have gone by that fast.