I’ve been listening to NPR a lot this week and most of the reports have been circulating on various topics surrounding 9/11. One is about the psychology of the generations who don’t remember the event. It seems strange, but I guess I’m probably one of the youngest age-groups that can vividly remember the events of that day. I was in 7th grade. My teachers lost any conviction of teaching and we watched people jump out of the Towers on the classroom televisions until Administration pulled the cable plugs, probably worried about parents complaining. Some of the kids were freaking out about the economy crashing and I remember being so pissed at these cold, snobby, practical classmates. “Who cares about the economy?!” I shouted at one who was pretending he knew what he was talking about. “There are people dying!”
My dad was sobbing when I came home and wouldn’t let me near the TV for the next few days because they kept playing the footage over and over again.
Listening to the NPR reports, I was introduced to StoryCorps, an oral history collecting, non-profit organization which I am now totally in love with. They believe every life is important and are currently committed to making sure that they collect at least one story for every person who died in 9/11. I think it is a really noble goal, to make sure everyone is remembered.
Below is the one I heard on the radio. The one that made me cry so much that I had to hide in a different parking lot to calm down before work.
Hannah Karena Jones 