On anniversary of 9/11, try kindness
Tuesday marks the 17th anniversary of 9/11. It will be an unremarkable anniversary thanks to A) time healing wounds and B) our continued fascination with multiples of five when it comes to remembering and honoring big historical events, but still: It’s here, and it’s a reminder of what, for many of us, was the scariest day of our lives and, for too many of us, the saddest.
For those of us that lived through it, it’s something we’ll never forget. Obviously. But you know what else I’ll never forget? How easy it was to make a left-hand turn in the first few weeks after the attack. I think I got waved through more times from September 12 to October 1, 2001, than I have, in total, in my entire life. All I had to do was put on my blinker and cars would stop to let me turn. It was like I was Neo from “The Matrix” or something. Time, and cars, would stop for me.
Also worth noting: Merging was a breeze for a short spell back then, and yield signs had a way of actually getting people to yield.
I recall doors being held, “please” and “thank you” being tossed about with abandon, and a general sense of “hey, how you doin’?” permeating the air.
In short: We were nice to each other. Black or white, liberal or conservative, stupid Philly fan or wise New York fan, young or old, it didn’t matter. Kindness ruled the day.
Fast forward to 2018. In fact, fast forward to a specific sampling of comments on my Facebook page after I wrote a column saying Colin Kaepernick’s actions are exactly what makes America a free country. These comments were part of a chain, are not edited, and were some of the tamer takes given.
“He’s still a scumbag. U liberals will never learn.”
“no point in being reasonable. Racist people do not listen to reason.”
“there it is. Get off ur high horse u entilteld libtard.”
“I know, hence why I stopped commenting. Plus this stupid liberal has to work. Don’t have all day to bicker with a crazy person.”
Scumbag. Liberals. Racist. Entitled. Libtard. Stupid. Crazy. All within a few minutes.
In short? No one is letting anyone make a left hand turn anymore.
To say we’re a “divided nation” is selling it short. We’re a divided state, a divided town, a divided neighborhood. Somehow, we’ve forgotten we’re all Americans, all live in a free country, all entitled to our opinions, all able to affect change, all able to vote, all able to have our voices heard.
But it’s like we live in two different countries, at least in our minds.
How did this happen? Who knows. The constant barrage of “breaking news” doesn’t help, the partisan bent (without admittance of such) by news outlets doesn’t help, the hard turns made by both the left and the right doesn’t help.
Social media also doesn’t help.
I wish I remember where I read it or who said it, but it was recent and it stuck out and for the life of me, I can’t find it on Google. Went something like this: America used to be a melting pot, but social media has crystallized us and our opinions. There is rarely such a thing as “discourse” on Facebook; it’s almost always scumbag liberals racist entitled libtard stupid crazy.
We go on Facebook, repeat the opinions we hear on Fox News or CNN (or worse), scream, yell, lather, rinse, repeat.
In the end though, the blame falls squarely on us. We’re the ones letting it happen. We’re the ones letting our lizard brains control the conversation.
It’s OK to disagree, and it’s OK to talk about it. But somewhere in the last 17 years or so, we’ve forgotten we’re all actually on the same team. I’m legitimately worried where it will all lead. I’m not a big New Testament guy, but yeah, Mark 3:25, as popularized by Honest Abe Lincoln: House, divided, not gonna stand.
Is there a way back? Is there an easy way we might be able to stop being jackasses to each other?
Well, letting people make left-hand turns probably isn’t the worst start.