five years ago

Five years ago today.

Jonas and I were watching The West Wing when the broadcast was interrupted with news of the first plane. We sat there watching, horrified, shocked, captivated.

This day did change the world: a loud roar in some countries and a whisper in others.

As an Australian, I was not entirely shocked that people felt this way about the US, and that they would go this far to express it, but I was shocked to see it occur step by step.

As an American (yes, I am a dual national) I felt sad that this could happen, that the country could be hated so much, and that so many innocent people died in such a horrible way.

As a former NYC resident (albeit, only for four months) I was terrified for all my friends and family and was one of the zillions of people jamming NY phone lines trying to get word that they were OK.

As a Westerner, I felt frightened that my own urban habitat was under attack. It showed me that we can no longer be complacent about the terrible things that happen to people all over the world. We had been cushioned by our affluence, but now I understood that if the world is unhappy, we will eventually feel it too.

Without turning my gastronomic blog into a political one, I really believe that this day, in many ways, ended the West’s ignorant bliss.

It's more than tragic that so many people had to die in order for us to understand this.

Tags: australia united states 911 september 11 new york terrorism