9/11

Someone asked, "What were you doing on 9/11" Of course like all Americans I remember in detail:
John had taken the day off work so that we could go to the car dealership. We stopped for breakfast, and when we walked in the whole place was silent except for the tv. We sat there watching the horrible sight in complete silence with a restaurant full of people. It was eerie.

In retrospect, although I feel terrible for the families of the people killed, I feel worse for what has happened since. I am not talking about the war in this case (although I could go there too) In the US we have always had a false sense of security. 9/11 woke us up to the facts that the world in a dangerous place. The rest of the world has always known that. What's worse is that some people have used this fear to justify taking away our civil liberties. Tis loss of freedom has not made us safer. In fact an argument could be made that is has made us less safe. Which would you prefer, knowing that we are mortal and there are bad people out there or losing the basic freedom guaranteed in the constitution. We as Americans cannot allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear. We may live longer, but what is our quality of life.