Friday, October 12, 2001
The World Trade Center and the Meaning of Patriotism
Perhaps you have heard the phrase “may you live in interesting times.” While it is generally thought of as one of those classic, telling Chinese curses....it isn’t. Its renown is due, curiously enough, to its use in a 1966 speech Robert Kennedy gave where he described the upheavals he saw in his world--the world of Vietnam, civil rights, and apartheid. And the 1960s were, if nothing else, “interesting"--a phrase that our current President favors whenever he is at loss for words, which means he uses the word a great deal. I did a bit of research on the trusty web and I found that the origins of the phrase stem from a 1950 science fiction story, pointing to its status as quintessential Americana. In any case, I think of the phrase when I reflect on the World Trade Center attack last month. We have been informed, time and time again, that we are entering a new world, one where the old rules don’t apply, where America has lost its innocence, and so on. We seemed doomed, for the foreseeable future, to be entering a world where the very word “interesting” may be the best we can hope for.
And I must confess that I haven’t looked at the world the same way since I first heard on WVPE that a plane had hit one of the towers. I heard it as I was in process of doing some laundry. When I looked down at the pile of dirty clothes I saw a pair of pants that I had bought the summer before in the bowels of the World Trade Center. Later, I realized that I had also that very same morning made a cup of tea with honey bought at the farmer’s market in front of the World Trade Center. All that first day I found myself simply overwhelmed by memories. I recalled the time my family had celebrated my high school graduation with a dinner at Windows on the World, the famous restaurant on the top of one of the towers. I recalled how I had once visited a friend of mine who worked in one of the towers and how disconcerting it was to feel the building slowly sway, and how he laughed and said you get used to it after a year or two. I recalled how I, like everyone else, used the buildings as an instant geographic locator in Manhattan. I felt haunted by these and other memories.
The week after the attack I went back to visit my family. I had lunch with my brother who lives and works in downtown New York City and we went to go see the disaster first-hand. By then it had turned into the strangest tourist site the world has ever seen. There were people crying, there were others selling T-shirts. We saw Julia Roberts come to investigate--being driven in a snappy red Mercedes convertible--perhaps the first time she has not been the instant object of every gaze. That honor belonged to the smoldering rubble we looked at in silence two blocks away.
Like Michiana, New York was covered with flags. Gap has its flag, Victoria’s Secret, Banana Republic, even that family friendly store--Yellow Rat Bastard at Broadway and Spring--has its emblematic badge of loyalty. Yet, in NY these flags seem to speak more profoundly to the will people have to carry on after an unspeakably evil act. How else can one explain the flag in the office window of The Village Voice, a magazine not normally associated with traditional forms of patriotism? I mean in their current issue they have a story entitled “Indict Katherine Harris” of Florida ballot recount fame. The flags in NY looked sadder, less vengeful, and simply filled with a level of grief that I had never encountered.
We have a stark choice ahead of us and it goes back to these flags, because the way our elected leaders believe we, as Americans, see the meaning of that flag, will impact their decision-making process. In the meantime, I am here to report that America is back in business; the weird juxtaposition of patriotism and consumerism that is our life-blood has just begun to flow with a new fervor.
A random selection from more than 300 Michiana Chronicles -- refresh the browser to see another set:
Joe Chaney -- More essays by Joe
Louise Collins -- More essays by Louise
April Lidinsky -- More essays by April
Jonathan Nashel -- The World Trade Center and the Meaning of Patriotism / More essays by Jonathan
Jeff Nixa -- More essays by Jeff
Ken Smith -- More essays by Ken
Jeanette Saddler Taylor -- More essays by Jeanette
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About the series
Michiana Chronicles is a series of radio essays by Jonathan Nashel, Louise Collins, Joe Chaney, Jeanette Saddler Taylor, Jeff Nixa, April Lidinsky, and Ken Smith.
Michiana is the region of north-central Indiana and southern Michigan roughly centered on South Bend, Indiana.
Michiana Chronicles airs on Fridays at 7:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on WVPE (88.1 FM), the home of public radio in Elkhart / South Bend, Indiana.
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Recent pieces
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