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AlphaSigOU · 09-19-2001, 07:44 AM

This was posted by a frequent flyer on the FlyerTalk (www.flyertalk.com) frequent flyer message board:

Quote:

After spending a long weekend in the wilds of Oregon I've decided what I'm going to do as a result of the recent events in NYC and DC. (Actually I decided the very day of the attacks. Thinking about it over the past few days though, it occurs that I should declare it publicly.) So what is it I'm going to do?

Nothing.

That's right. I'm going to carry on as if it never happened. Over the past week I've seen and heard all the same reports as the rest of you, about people being afraid to fly, people changing their travel and vacation plans, of worrying what the future holds. I refuse to do any of these.

For me (and me alone) to do so is to accede to the terrorists' wishes. Clearly they wanted to instil fear in us, to disrupt our lives, to attack our way of life. But I refuse to play along with their sordid game. I'm not going to let them decide how I live my life. As far as it is within my control I'll not change one iota.

Yes I will be forced to pack differently, but I'll still take my laptop, 2 cell phones, scopemeter, DVMs, and other assorted electronic test equipment along. I'll even take my spare batteries for my screwdriver. I'll have to declare them of course, and present them for display, which pretty much means I'll have to carry them on-board. I'll still wear my steel-toed shoes, even if I have to take them off and put them through X-ray.

I'll have to show up at the airport much earlier but no matter -- I'm still going. It doesn't matter where or when, if I have to go somewhere then I'm going come hell or high water. And as much as possible I'm going in the manner I'm accustomed to -- by boat, or car, or rail, or even air.

I started this weekend on a long planned trip to the Oregon coast. At first it was suggested that I not go, given the extended delays at the borders. I went anyway, fully expecting a 3 hour delay and finding exactly that. I went nonetheless. I'll go again.

I'm going to continue to be tolerant and patient with airline employees who are at least trying. I'm going to continue raising my eyebrows at people who deserve it. I'm not going to be nasty to my Muslim Arab-Canadian neighbours. I'm not going to bail on the stock market. I'm not even going to exercise my stock options. I'm not going to stop doing anything that I've always done, or start doing something that I haven't before.

Well, except perhaps one thing. From time to time, I'll probably think about the people in the various buildings on September 11. Even more, I'll think about the people on the planes, and more so yet the crews on the planes. Most of all, I'll think about the people on flight 93, who apparently tried to take fate into their own hands, and while not entirely successful, appeared at least to have prevented an even greater tragedy.

The other thing I might have done, but haven't and probably won't, is to try to eloquently express my feelings and condolences. For me, any attempt to do so would be a palely pathetic attempt that simply wouldn't do justice to the
way I feel. If you want to know what I think or how I feel, look inside yourself, for you know what I know, and you feel what I feel.

In the meantime, give me the d*mn ticket. I have a plane to catch.