On the fateful morning of September 11, 2001, I was a student at New York University commuting to class (hungover, but well, tuition is too expensive to actually miss class). When we heard something was happening at the World Trade Center, a friend and I started jogging down Broadway to see what was going on. We were a few blocks away when the first tower started crumbling down. We didn’t know what to do, how to help, or even what was really happening. We just wanted to do SOMETHING. We ended up helping a local store owner as he was distributing water to emergency workers and met a number of heroes that day. It was a day that changed how we, as Americans, felt. For a while, there was a sense of patriotism that had been missing for far too long. Sure, with time, that sense of unity has faded (whether as a result of our foreign policy or leftist agendas or our fickle nature, it could be a million different reasons). This anniversary, take a moment to remember where you were when you heard, how you felt, what you did. I know I will.
Sorry, this post isn’t about NAR politics or how to better convert leads or the future of SEO, it is merely a random rambling from a Bloodhound. Mahalo.
Eric Blackwell says:
Thanks for that Alex.
No apologies needed at all for this not being a real estate related thing. Hopefully we all remember where we were that day and how we felt.
May we always remember the significance of the words “let’s Roll”.
Mahalo, my friend.
September 11, 2010 — 5:19 am
Greg Swann says:
Thanks for doing this, Alex. You, too, Tom. Our own Teri Lussier ruminates very powerfully on the impact of 9/11 on her children and their generation at SplendorQuest.com.
September 11, 2010 — 10:44 am
Don Reedy says:
“hungover, but well, tuition is too expensive to actually miss class…”
I’m still hungover emotionally from 9/11. Funny thing, though. The tuition costs we paid that day did send many American’s back to school, back to basics, back to the class we used to have as a country bound together by commonality, if not ideology.
Now, some nine years later, skipping class seems the norm.
Alex, may you live long and peacefully in that good place we know as Hawaii. And may the strength and power of this singular event continue to make you a better classmate, a better student, a wiser teacher, and a more complete citizen of the world…even as the sadness will never fade.
September 11, 2010 — 2:21 pm
Alex Cortez says:
Thanks for commenting. As my wife will gladly tell anyone who will listen (and quite a few who won’t), I’m the polar opposite of an emotional person, yet 911 always pulls at strings in me that turn me into a girl scout. Today is moving day for me (literally, I’m in the midst of moving), but still a day of remembrance. Have a good weekend.
September 11, 2010 — 2:32 pm