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September
2002
A Tale of Two
Cities
If you pick up today's
newspaper or turn on tonight's evening news, you will become immediately
aware that the nation is about to wallow in the remembrance of last
September 11th. For many people, it will be an occasion to look
back and dwell on the loss. For others, it will be an interruption
of their quest to "move on."
A nation of TV-watchers,
we are going to rely on our favorite hosts to comfort us, a kind
of national catharsis with Katie. On last September 11th, the news
coverage was, naturally, piecemeal. This month, the news and public
affairs programs will at least give us a narrative version of events
-- a beginning, a middle and, we hope, an end. For many, and particularly
for people who are still suffering from some level of post-traumatic
stress, a story is a way of organizing the chaos and capturing the
meaning of what happened.
As a resident of lower
Manhattan whose office is in Washington, I have seen first-hand
that the enduring effects wrought by 9-11 are proportional to the
psychological and physical distance from the sites of the attacks
themselves.
The sense of vulnerability
remains palpable in people who live close to Ground Zero and among
those who lost loved ones, but it decreases as you go uptown --
as the daily reminders of it are less visible. People in Washington
experienced the attack on the Pentagon in a very different way:
It seemed fairly well contained within the military "family,"
and while there is undoubtedly a similar ripple effect among families,
friends, the immediate community and rescue workers, the size and
scope of the remaining anxiety is more limited.
In New York, the tasks
are funerary -- figuring out how to memorialize, how distribute
aid equitably, how to fill the holes in the ranks of the police
and fire departments. It is all about loss. In Washington, the task
is fighting a war and preventing terrorism -- a view to the future.
The events of 9/11 and
its aftermath are going to affect us and the way we see the world
from now on. But we still have to pick the kids up from day care,
pay the phone bill and have dinner with the in-laws. We are an optimistic
people and resilient enough to figure out, in many different ways,
how to make the awful events of last September 11th part of our
individual and collective stories.
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