09/11/2001

I was at work at CVS. I was the shift supervisor of the store, but I had to cashier because my one employee was running late. The man from the store next to us came in and said that someone had flown a plane into the World Trade Towers. How horrible! My employee came in and I took a television off the shelf and put it in the pharmacy. When we turned it on, there was another plane flying into the towers. We were all stunned. Shocked. Who? Why? Our first impression had been that it was an accident. Now it was plane that it was a planned attack. The day was a blur after that except for the times I stopped at the pharmacy to see if anything had developed. We later learned about the plane that the passengers took over and flew into a field and the plane that flew into the pentagon.
In OUR country! Terrorists had the gall to attack us in our own country! We all watched in horror as New York City went mad. The 'collateral damage' of the buildings in close proximity, the poisonous air. The chaos of trying to find loved ones. Pictures of those not found were posted on erected bulletin boards. The brave fireman and police who were called to deal with a tragedy no one ever thought could happen here.
I guess what surprised Americans was the thought that we were in a war. What war? Who were we fighting? Who could hate us so badly that innocent people had been annihilated? Families had been destroyed. And our sense of security was shattered.
The assistant manager of my store was a devout muslim from Pakistan. He said that he had read the Koran many, many times and not once did he read any passages where it spoke of martyring yourself so you could go to paradise and have 70 virgins waiting for you.
The great divide this action caused by so few has grown to hatred between millions of muslims and millions of christians. This act of hatred has caused a great divide in our own country.
And still the question has begged, why?