Monday, September 6, 2010

Embrace and Release.....

I've mentioned on many occasions that I enjoy the Fall of the year better than any other season; and in the Northern State, where Mother Nature is Bi-Polar, it is said that we earn our seasonal changes. We earn the Spring by surviving the horrors of Winter...and we earn the Fall by surviving the Summer.

The leaves are changing to the color of the glowing embers...
My heart is waiting for the Spring to come again.

But there is a slight downside to the Fall. The Anniversary of the world changing forever.

I would like to say a small prayer on that day, and drink a toast to those that serve, and those that gave that Last Full Measure of Devotion to their fellow man. I would like to spend no more time on it than that, and surely that would be enough. But I work for an organization that was created in the fire of that event, and.....

We have done the best we could, these past years, to try to make things safe for the American people; and yes, our failures get a lot of attention; more so than our successes. And there is a huge contingent of people who think that we're, at the very least, a violation of their privacy, and at most a laughable organization that is more "security theatre" than actual security...and they regularly petition to have us removed, because nothing has happened since that fateful day.

Forgetting, of course, that there may actually BE a correlation between "nothing happening" and "us being there."

And yes, there are some unsavory folks working in the ranks; people with a chip on their shoulders and no social skills, who don't see a connection between the job of security and treating people with simple respect. And on behalf of the organization, I would apologize for them. But don't equate Officer A**h*le with the organization. As the old song goes, "one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch..."

I am proud of the job that we do, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

That being said, I am uncomfortable with the attention we give to the tragedy. It is important, I know, to be able to look back at the Genesis, and acknowledge that we have come through the strife, and become a stronger, more aware society. But we have so far yet to go.

We need to fear less. We need to hope more. And, we need to forgive a little.

Any good Christian would tell you that.

3 comments:

Kizz said...

Do you mean uncomfortable with the amount of attention given it or the type?

Historiclemo said...

Recently, there was a suggestion that checkpoints around the country post photographs of the Towers, and the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania; I assume the postings were to show that we remember our roots. But focus groups around the country suggest that such images do not inspire pride, but bring up again those feelings of helplessness, despair and rage that came in the morning hours of September 11, 2001.

In terms of the attention my organization pays to the event in question, I would prefer a more positive message: "I worry so you don't have to. You are getting my best work, everyday." Something like that.

I don't want to diminish in any way the sacrifices made on that day, and I hope you don't get that impression.

My feeling is best summed up by something I said once when I was asked why I work at a place where I am regularly heaped with abuse. My response was, "Because I'm working toward a day when I can wake up feeling like I did on September 10."

As always, my dear friend, you make me think better, clearer thoughts.

Kizz said...

Oh hell yes using photos like that as decoration would inspire rage in me. I would immediately assume it was the organization saying, "Don't blame us, blame the bombers. It's not our fault. Quit picking on us!" A very bad message.

Anyone who uses those photos makes me highly distrustful and way, way angry. Who the fuck thought that would be a good idea? You use those as a memorial to people who died and there just isn't any other appropriate reason, how is that difficult to grasp?

I didn't get the impression you had weird or distasteful reasons for wishing the attention were quieter but I did want to know about it more specifically. And now I know a lot more, too, which is good.