Most people here are probably saying how, after much hard work, they’ve been able to push forward and move on in life after the attacks… unfortunately, I’m not one of them.
Yes, life does go on- for everyone, but if the attacks (as well as some other events in life) have taught me anything, it’s to basically trust no one- at least not fully. I’d love to sit here and say I cried my share of tears and then came to accept it and moved on, but I’m a realist, not a liar. To this day (as much as I hate to admit it), I still catch myself from time to time doing double takes and staring down certain people (a lot of them being of Middle Eastern decent) that cross my path.
As I said, not proud of it, but it’s the truth. If it weren’t for the screw-ups I had as a young adult, I would’ve been on the first thing smoking to Afghanistan or Pakistan, happily picking off person after person, without giving it a second thought. For that reason alone, maybe it’s better I’m not able to enlist. The attacks have taught me to be suspicious and cautious- some would say almost to a paranoid level. Not just of middle eastern people or of Muslims (which several of my friends and acquaintances are, just not Jihadist extremists), but of anyone I don’t know.
10 years ago, anyone who walked up to me and introduced themselves would immediately been treated like a friend I’d known for years. Today, you have to earn trust and respect from me- and God help you if you do something to lose either. I know many will see this as negative and even downright wrong, but it’s just how I am now, and the attacks on 9/11 have played a big role in creating the person typing away on this keyboard right now. But love it or hate it, it is what it is.