Would you fly on 9/11?
It was early on September 11, 2001. My wife had left for work. My daughters had headed off to school. I was sitting at my desk looking to get some work done before heading downtown. The television was on for the morning news and weather. It was more background noise than anything else.
Then came the first report of an airplane hitting one of the towers at the World Trade Center, in New York City. It caught my attention, but it didn't change my plans for that day. I was going downtown to have lunch with a friend who worked for a company that was based inside of Sears Tower. I was hoping she could help me get a job there. Noon was going to bring food and networking. A plane accident wasn't going to change that.
It wasn't long after that when everything in life changed. The second plane hit the other building. My friend called me five minutes later. She was going home, as was everyone else working in the Sears Tower. They were being evacuated. Life became surreal.
Today is September 11, 2019. It's eighteen years since the attacks of 9/11. In a few hours, I'll be boarding an airplane to Los Angeles. I'm sure I'll have the events of 9/11/01 on my mind. How can you not?
About a month ago, I booked this trip. I wanted to go to the Oklahoma-UCLA that's being played this coming Saturday. Spirit Airlines had a deal. You had to travel on either Tuesday or Wednesday. No problem. I have the time. I'm leaving on a Wednesday and will come home next Tuesday. The cost was $125 ROUND TRIP! How do you pass that up? I never thought twice about booking the flights.
A couple of weeks ago, a few friends were having a Facebook discussion about 9/11. It was then that I realized that we were coming up on another anniversary of the attack. I double checked my flight itinerary. It was only then that I realized that I had booked a flight on 9/11. Play the Twilight Zone theme.
I've been doing some thinking since then. Am I having second thoughts about flying on this date? Am I scared to get on the airplane? If I realized that I was booking flight on 9/11, would I have done it?
Under the best of circumstances, I'm not a great flyer. I've had periods in my life where if I know I'm going to have to fly somewhere, it was set me off for a couple of weeks before the flight. I'm much better now. I finally realized that airplanes don't crash. If you get on a plane, the chances are almost 100% that you'll be getting off safely.
Even knowing how safe flying is, yes, I'm having second thoughts. How can you not? We're going to be inundated with 9/11 stories today. I'm guessing I'll have seen twenty or more of them by the time my flight leaves at 4 pm. It'll be impossible not to have it running somewhere in my brain.
But guess what folks....I'm still going! Yeah, I'll probably be a little more nervous than normal, but chances are better than excellent I'll be in Los Angeles later tonight...safe and somewhat sound. Tomorrow, I plan on checking out the Pacific Ocean. It's one of my favorite places in the world. I feel at peace there. I can't let an event from eighteen years ago stop that. You have to go on living your life. That's how you beat the terrorists....real or imagined. I hope I can remember that later today.
Related Post: Planes don't crash, right? RIGHT?!!
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