Last night I went to bed but could not sleep. While I witnessed an event so
horrific that it could have been only a movie, the emotions I felt were
still not registering with my brain - I guess when your mind is overloaded
it just goes numb and disconnected.
Closing my eyes and the sounds of silence seem to have reconnected
everything. I kept on seeing the faces of the 3 people who took me to lunch
to celebrate my "new" job a month ago and the voices of those who I have not
yet met or whose faces I could not remember. I have dealt with some of these
people for 5 years and had many long conversations with all of them, and not
about work but about who and what we are. I believe, as all of you, that a
business is not about bricks and mortar, but about the people who work
there.
The first thing I did when I saw the devastation from the first attack was
to call their office which is why I had my back slightly turned when the 2nd
plane hit. The phone rang and rang but no one answered. I called again,
299-9100, but still no answer. I was hoping to hear that they made it but
the reality is they couldn't. The reason is that they worked on the 87th
floor and from eyewitness accounts it took about 2 minutes to walk down 1
floor. Merryl, Kischa, Ynes, Glenn, Suzanne and everyone else whose name I
can't remember and the receptionists whose name I never asked may you rest
in peace.
"For the Grace of God Go I" When I was looking for a new job in 1999 Merryl
convinced me to come downtown and interview to work at CSC. Because of the
"nature" of some attorneys and paralegals I turned down their offer as I
don't have the required temperament. I also hated the location as it was too
crowded.
For those of you who have been to visit the WTC it is incredulous that those
mammoth structures could be gone. I saw many free concerts in the plaza
between the towers and spent several lunch hours there when I had to get
documents executed by different banks etc. which were located in the area
around there. I shopped in many of those stores which were located around
the towers and those buildings are gone too, not leveled but severely
damaged and which will also be demolished in the near future. It must be a
movie.
FWIW I work about 2 miles from there as the crow flies and I had an
unimpeded view. The television videos brought home to me just how serious
and the utter devastation I witnessed from my office. What appeared to be a
small plane, as witnessed by some who saw the 2nd plane crash, turned out to
be a 767. It's amazing how distances can make a tragedy deceiving. Of course
the distance could not minimize the horror of watching the buildings
collapse. Probably the eeriest sight is seeing only 1 of the towers still
standing until 10 minutes later when the second collapsed. We were
speechless, except for the screaming and sobs.
I hope we punish the bastards who caused this tragedy and bomb them back
into the stone age. I hope that they would only wish and pray that they were
nuked rather than to die deaths that would be reminiscent of the bombing of
Japan prior to the dropping of the A bombs, which for those who don't know,
killed more than the A bombs.
A sick terrorist mind understands only 1 thing - violence. Lets bring the
violence home to such a degree that they will never attempt to do such a
thing. Level and kill all that which they hold dear.
I disagree with Gordon as "you can't reason with a sick mind." Do we have to
stoop to their level? I believe to send a very strong mesage we will have
to. We have to show them the consequences of their actions in a way they
thought unimaginable, just as I thought yesterday seeing what happened.
I hope all our allies will respond and help us carry out what must be done.
A slap on the wrist WILL NOT DUE.
Lebanon bombing of the military barracks, the USS Cole, the American
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and countless other terrorist attacks must
be avenged and stopped. PERIOD.
The ONLY way, IMHO, is to bring destruction to a scale unimaginable to those
whose mantra is terrorism.
Collateral damage? While unfortunate, it must be and we have to get over it
as we did during WWII. We must have the guts to do what needs to be done no
matter how offensive it may be to our senses and our hearts and beliefs.
The people who died yesterday should not die in vain. They should serve as
the basis for our ending of terrorism, NOW! If we don't do what is necessary
they will have died in vain. Let's make sure they didn't.
God bless their souls and families.
Mike
|