9/11 - almost five years later

Scalzi's weekend assignment is really the "where were you when JFK was shot?" of my generation: Share your thoughts about 9/11. You can remember back on what you were doing on the day or give some thought to how we think about it today. Thoughts personal, political or philosophical are all up for consideration. Tell us all what you think about when you think about September 11, 2001.

I wasn't going to tackle this assignment, because my "where were you?" moment came when I was in the bathtub shaving my legs and my dad knocked on the door and told me. I honestly don't know what I saw live and what was being replayed. Work for the day was cancelled. And I pretty much sat at home and watched TV, cursing the fact that my modem had fried the month before and I couldn't get online to find out more.

September 12 was the day I remember most vividly. I worked at Epcot at the time, in the American Adventure pavilion. AA is one of those attractions that people go to when they're hot and tired and need to cool off for 30 minutes. It's not that popular with kids, so a lot of people skipped us over.

So we opened back up on the 12th after being closed on the 11th. And, though park attendance had completely tanked, we were busy. It was almost as if it was a healing place for people who were away from home and wanted to feel some kind of connection to America, even though we were still in America. Or maybe people felt guilty for skipping us over before. But I'm convinced that everyone in Epcot that day must have passed through our doors.

There are two singing groups that perform in the Rotunda of the building. On that day, American Vybe, whose sets were mostly jazzy renditions of songs like "Fever" and "Just a Gigolo," ended their first set of the day with the most passionate rendition of God Bless America I'd ever heard. The soloist at the end had tears streaming down her face, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. It's a moment that still gives me goose bumps. Probably because it was the moment where I thought maybe everything was going to be ok after all.

(by the way, I still think things are going to be ok. I guess 4.9 years ago I thought everything would be "normal" again, but now I see that maybe "normal" has been forever redefined.)

I wasn't able to find any video of American Vybe, but here's one of the Voices of Liberty, the original entertainment in the American Adventure: