FromOceanandScenic

The Upcoming Unveiling

By John Bollinger

One of the strange aspects about being a member of the media business is that your work is never in the here and now. No matter what medium you are in, TV, radio, internet or print, you are (save for the news bulletin in electronic media) always working on something that will be seen in the future.

In the last couple of weeks, I have received several calls from writers working on 9/11 one-year-later stories, wanting to get my impressions on what has changed, stayed the same, or will change. Subsequently, I have been thinking about it perhaps more than most.

To make matters more interesting, so far, this summer has been almost a laser copy of last summer: the weather has been good —with some days being as breathtaking as possible; the financial world is in turmoil, with the career uncertainty the daily topic; the Yankees are tearing up the American League; and the Mets are, per usual, a question mark.

Therefore, my answer to the question of what 9/11/02 is going to be like is simply this, weird. Many New Yorkers have not gotten over the impact of 9/11 and this is not just those who lost a friend, relative, or loved one. As there was no template for us to use to guide us through 9/11 itself, there is nothing for us to follow when the earth has revolved around the sun to the same place it was when the towers came down. Perhaps the best parallel that I can come up with is the first Armistice Day and how people reacted to that.

There will be displays of anger and military muscle, there will be moments of silence and tears, and everything in between. Amplify the effect of remembering where you were when you heard that Kennedy was shot by a thousand and you will have a rough idea of the thoughts and emotions of New Yorkers on the second Wednesday of September this year.