Tuesday, May 3, 2011

9/11/01...Before Facebook





Since the tremendous news of bin laden’s death ...I have done a lot of reflecting on September 11th, the Navy Seal’s mission, and bin laden’s subsequent burial at sea. (Apparently the sharks will be feasting on sushi bin laden.) Woot. Woot.


During my reflection...there was something about September 11th that struck me...other than disbelief, despair, and extreme sadness. I remembered how our children were NOT told anything about the attacks that morning during school. They were dismissed early...and came home clueless. The school had their reasons. They wanted to shelter the children until they could get home and be consoled by their parents. Some children might have had parents working in the World Trade Center or nearby.

But that got me thinking...that in today’s day...in 2011...the school couldn’t get away with that approach. The students would never be left in the dark. They would know immediately. Facebook and Twitter have changed everything.

Heck, there was actually real time twittering of the events going on in Abbotabad, Pakistan regarding the attack on the compound where bin laden was hiding. And even more...corrupt governments in the Middle East have been overthrown through efforts organized on Facebook.

Anywhooooooooooooooooo....................

September 11th was pre-Facebook and pre-Twitter. Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t even entered Harvard until the fall of 2002. When I think of the uses and the ramifications of social networking, it makes me wonder what might have been different if there was Facebook and Twitter back in 2001? Would more people have survived?


But that was then and this is now. We can’t go back and change things. We know what we know. We are who we are. And we always remember.

Today we feel justice has been served.


Speaking of being served...I think I hear the sharks calling for a little wasabi sauce to choke down that rancid sushi bin laden.

No comments: