Louise Wolfe's Hobbies (Toastmasters)UnimaginableDelivered 9/11/01 Menlo Presbyterian Toastmasters, Menlo Park |
Nine years ago we were still re-building the bridges and buildings destroyed in he Loma Prieta earthquake.Nine months ago we were arguing about hanging chads.
Nine weeks ago we were worried about the "dot-goners" and an impending recession.
Nine days ago we were wondering which teams would make it to the World Series.
Nine hours ago all that changed forever.
Nine hours ago, the unimaginable happened.
The U.S. was attacked. Hundreds, probably thousands of innocent civilians were killed, and two major symbols of U.S. strength were destroyed.
No one could have predicted today's events. Who could have imagined that today:
In the initial shock of a crisis as immense as today's, we try to make some sense of it by comparing it with prior disasters experienced.
It was compared with major earthquakes. The stress on emergency and rescue operations were similar, but it didn't really compare.
Thoughts returned to the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing. Unfortunately, that disaster made today's slightly more comprehensible. But it was small compared to today.
For those of us over 45 years old, the emotional impact is comparable to the day President Kennedy was assassinated. We remember in vivid detail where we were and how we heard that news. Just as we will always remember today's tragic events.
Finally, we must go back over sixty years-to Pearl Harbor. But even that doesn't really compare. We weren't officially at war, but the world was. 2,403 people were killed at Pearl Harbor, but only 68 were civilians. The primary targets that day were military ships and planes. Most importantly, we knew who had attacked us.
All day the media has been stressing the need to return to "business as usual". President Bush was even criticized for flying around the country in Air Force one instead of heading straight back to Washington. He did the right thing. There is no doubt in my mind that the plane that crashed near Pittsburgh was headed for the White House.
The press claim that if business stays shut down "they'll have won". I've got news for the press. They did win this battle, because it was totally unexpected. And business will never be conducted "as usual" again. The U.S. is no longer protected by two large oceans. Our wars will no longer be fought on other countries' soil.
It will be months and years before we know the full impact that today's events will have on history. But one thing is certain. This will change things!
I hope that today's events remain unimaginable for the vast majority of us, despite seeing the news footage innumerable times.
Of all the repeated shots I saw today of the carnage and destruction, the most chilling image was of women and children in the Middle East celebrating the disaster-dancing for joy at the U.S.' vulnerability.
The most uplifting and hopeful scene today was the bipartisan Congress linking arms on the Capitol steps and singing "God Bless America".
I don't want to be able to think like the terrorists who planned such a deadly plot. I only want to be able to imagine the world that John Lennon sang about:
"living life in peace" and that a "world will live as one".
