Didn’t want to ignore it, so, I’ll just say a brief piece.

Admittedly, I feel a lot of mixed emotions when September 11 rolls around and I’m out of the country on vacation. I don’t think it’s a moral failing on my part, to be fair, but it’s strange being somewhere else.

And seeing how long it’s been since the attacks, I wonder how people view it today, and if it’s now seen, a quarter century later, as a relic of another era in American history, albeit one that very much was the catalyst for ushering in our current one. Do people, whether they were kids, adults, or yet to be born when the attacks happen, take time to commemorate them, or has it been a long enough time that they don’t think about it all that much in the way of reflection?

I do think the younger generation might have a hard time understanding the feelings that surface when the anniversary rolls around for people from generations that remember it, particularly those who were affected because they knew one or multiple people who died. The numbing feeling of horror, of sadness, of confusion, of “what’s next?”

The conspiracy theories still bother me. I realize that since then, conspiracy theories have been turbocharged by governmental secrecy, uncertainty and subterfuge from immense companies that have been found to have hidden many things from the public, and catastrophes we have endured since, most prominently the pandemic. And that’s not even the half of it.

I have done a fair amount of reading and research on the attacks. I enjoy learning about American history and this is one of the most significant historical events in the country in my lifetime, and the first big one that I can remember.

Humor about it gives me mixed feelings. Occasionally, it can be very well-done, a la the “Seinfeld” spec script where the characters deal with NYC in the aftermath or The Onion’s immediate response. But when it’s done as a try-hard attempt at edginess (does anyone remember seeing those pants with the image of the tower being hit on it?), I feel a real disgust. And unfortunately, the amount of time that has elapsed does sometimes feel like it makes things like that more accepted, or at the very least ignored.

It’s worth thinking about today, though, even if it’s not for long. This is not a thread meant only for memorializing or seriousness, simply me saying I didn’t want to ignore it.

I hope you have a good day, and do something that makes you happy/proud of yourself. And in addition, reach out to someone (or multiple people) that you care about.