-------------------------------------------------------------------- Living Hell - Volume #1, Issue #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- September 11, 2001 ================== Contents ======== o Siblings o Walking Wounded o Fire Department of New York o Drinking Game Siblings ======== Today is my brother's birthday. He's a flight attendant for [some airline]. Early this morning he returned home, riding one of the jets that later crashed. The very next flight, it turns out. Five days ago, my sister's baby was born. And I became an Uncle. Gifts, both of circumstance and chance. Walking Wounded =============== Is this what Pearl Harbor was like? That's the thought of the day, the *obvious* thought of the day, as we collectively ponder: are these the same, stunned, surreal sensations that our parents and grandparents felt fifty years ago? Dazed thoughts thinking "this can't be real" while an angry anger bubbles underneath, sometimes whispering, other times screaming for eye-for-eye justice. So, lo these last years spent celebrating "America's greatest generation," we *get* what the vets were speaking about. The patriotic outrage after a national violation. Not only can you not *not* react, you cannot *not* want to help. Such as this author's immediate willing- ness to assist with local firefighting needs, should worst-case mu- tual-aid requests leave the Capital City understaffed. (Not likely, mind you, but still considered.) Our elders also had a buffer of sorts. For better or worse, ours is an "information age." What was once radio, newspaper, and a little bit o' television, is now CNN, the Internet, and near-instant pre- packaging of just-happened horrors such that, by four o'clock this afternoon, most of the major news sites had slick, professional- looking graphics already advertising "America Under Attack." (In their defense, I suppose presentation *is* everything. Even in the worst of times.) Of course, provided you could *connect* to such sites. Internet bandwidth was catch as catch can today. Once con- nected, though, content was indeed king: photos and articles and testimonials and those amazing (if wee) videos that diminished, but didn't sterile, the day's incredible footage. Click to experience the story. No thanks, living it already. Don't know about y'all, but this writer hasn't had a lighthearted thought since the first exclaimed phone call from my mother this morning. Food, drink, and dessert urges are down. Favored hobbies seem suddenly trite. Work tasks are all at once hollow. Heck, just *get-ting* is a challenge, wading a stream of "survival thoughts," the mind's eye imagining worst-est-case scenarios requiring bottled water, stashed cash, or, ah, "home-protection devices." (A gun shop 'round the corner was doing brisk business!) If I resemble a sort of "walking wounded"-- if all of *America* is rendered same-- it shouldn't be much of a surprise. "TV war" debuted during the Per- sian conflict and "TV terror" is the logical, expected extension. And in a land of free speech and open borders, of jury trials and death-penalty foes, of mindlessly easy travel from coast-to-coast, by car or boat or train or plane (the latter more secure the fewer times "20/20" et al tried to "beat the system"), that the bullies are bullying *harder* is hardly news. The United States is a coun- try that, well, asks questions first. It's why we're liked and, alas, why we're not. Fire Department of New York =========================== Officials fear 200 firefighters perished during the World Trade Cen- ter attack and subsequent collapse. Twice the number initially re- sponded, with upwards of 11,000 (!) eventually responding, reports firehouse.com, quoting Harold Schaitberger, president of the Inter- national Association of Fire Fighters. The site, quoting a late re- lease from the FDNY Press Office, that the list of deceased includes FDNY Chief of Department Pete Ganci, First Deputy Commissioners Bill Freehan and Raymond M. Downey, and the Department's Chaplain, Rev. Michael Judge. The largest loss of firefighters in a single inci- dent, speculates the site, occurred on April 16-17, 1947, in Texas City, Texas, when fires and ammonium nitrate explosions aboard two (docked) ships killed 27 firefighters (and nearly 573 others). The entire department, if memory serves. Drinking Game ============= Warning! Contains humor in wake of great tragedy! World Trade Center drinking game. Instructions: Take a shot each time a network-news anchor uses one of the following adjectives: o horrific o horrendous o horrifying o terrifying o unbelievable o unfathomable (rare, take two shots) o tragic o terrible o just terrible o we have just learned o wait, we're getting another update Copyright 2001 by Michael J. Legeros ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Home Search Mike Legeros Copyright 2023 by Michael J. Legeros