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A Typical Day
Friday, September 12, 2003
From Appleton, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Assn. of Health Underwriters
I have been at sea about how to write about this second anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Last year I wrote a column called "The New Jerusalem," which I commend to you now.
It is clear to me, as I'm sure it is to you, that for most of us the raw pain of 9/11/01 has begun to fade. One year ago today, America stopped for a good part of the day to mourn and remember. This year we, for the most part, paused or, at a minimum, briefly slowed down.
Perhaps the typical-ness of the September 11th remembrances is a sign that we are winning the war on terror.
On my way here to Appleton, Reagan National Airport was bustling. Changing planes in Cincinnati was uneventful. At security checkpoints there is no longer a sense of pressure to get all your stuff on the x-ray belt THIS VERY SECOND. The people behind you know it will take some time to remove your shoes from your feet, and your laptop from your briefcase. It's become a typical trip through airport security.
Driving in downtown Washington early Wednesday morning presented me with typical traffic: A line-up to get onto the 14th Street Bridge and reports of an accident on the Beltway in Montgomery County. Ain't nothin' more typical than an accident on the Beltway in Montgomery County during the morning rush hour.
The American political system has returned to its typically fractious nature. The language used by the Democrats running for President in their debates is loaded with typical political hyperbole which was first - and still most accurately - described by William Shakespeare as being "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Actually the full quote is even more eloquent: "It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury�"
The debates on the floor of the U.S. House and Senate are back to their typical "Oh, yeah?" level of discourse which makes us feel all the more secure for their lack of gravity.
Police officers and firefighters are still out there on our behalf. Bad people are doing typically bad things and the cops are rounding them up. Fires start for all sorts of reasons in all sorts of weather at all hours of the day and night and firefighters, typically, are saving way more than they are losing .
American soldiers are spread across the globe doing what they have been trained for and what they have volunteered to do. They are performing those duties with the typical American professionalism we so easily take for granted.
Since the Romans sent their legions to Gaul and to Londinium in about 50 BC, soldiers have complained about being away from home, trying to communicate with people who speak in strange tongues, while eating food their mothers never heard of, much less prepared, so it is typical that our young, bright, highly-skilled soldiers are complaining as well.
In fact, it would cause their commanders great concern if they were not.
Over the past few weeks we have sent the kids back to school, begun to move the porch furniture to the back of the garage and the beach toys to the attic. We are packing away the shorts and t-shirts, and bringing out the corduroys and sweaters. All typical post-summer vacation activities.
We slowed down, yesterday, to think about 9/11. But, for those of us who did not lose someone close to us in the attacks or the war which has followed, it was a fairly typical day.
It is a measure of proof that, while this war is still on, typically, America is winning it.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A link to the Pentagon memorial service last year, The FULL full quote from Macbeth, an interesting link to a very brief history of the Roman armies, a link to last year's 9/11 column, and the usual things.
--END --
Copyright © 2003 Richard A. Galen
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