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JaneFinch    That was Then

That Was Then…. This is Now

          Then:  In 1991, I along with many of my fellow Canadians watched the Gulf “war” with great cynicism and not a little disgust.  There were the Americans, protecting their economic interests without a whit of thought to those they blew up.  Americans were yet again manufacturing a “crazy man in the Middle East” in order to protect oil, and American media was controlling the information flow….little of which we believed. I’m still cynical about the Gulf War and the results.

          Now:  On Tuesday morning, I was walking into work at my office in prairie Canada, and a colleague who was outside having a cigarette said, “Did you see that a plane hit the World Trade Center?”  We all went up to the fourth floor and turned on the television, thinking it was either some lone terrorist or a Montana Freeman.  By the time the second tower exploded, we all knew it was huge, and the restraint of the media told us it was more horrible than the worst hyperbole could describe.  While my office mates stood glued to the television, I rushed to my office to Yahoo messenger to see if I could find out about a chatter named plumnyc, real name Leslie, a lovely and intelligent woman with whom I chatted once a week in PIC and exchanged posts with and laughed with and admired.  I knew she worked at the WTC, and I was so used to the power and instant communication of the net that it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get news that way.  Thank G_d she was okay (and thank G_d for tardy public transportation)….and the wonder is that I did not wonder I could find out so quickly.  I then talked with my chatbestfriend, and real life friend, Gal, who was trapped in a Detroit airport….and she was okay.  And I commiserated with others on my friends list, people very close to me despite distance.

 And then I went back to the television and watched.  My entire office, and other offices, and people in the Mall, and people at the hairdresser were all watching television and listening to radio in horror….everyone could talk of nothing else.  This is no American problem; this is our problem….all our problem.  And I am so proud that my country and others are standing up and being counted on the side of America, and on the side of a good and decent society.  And I am proud that I haven’t heard a whisper of anti-American sentiment save a few occasional images on TV….that people can tell when it’s real and when it’s not, and they know this is real.   This is no Gulf War; this is war.

My thoughts aren’t particularly coherent right now; they’re mostly a collection of moments.  Some of the most memorable:

• I am glad that Canada could accommodate all the international flights and enable people to land and have a safe place to stay while awaiting American airports to open again.

• I went to amazon.com to buy a book, and there they were set up to receive donations to the Red Cross with the handy one-click feature.  The fact that they could collect 3.7 million bucks in two days shows the power of the Internet, and the generosity of folks who use it.

• Canada Safeway stores are now accepting donations to the American Red Cross that you can tack on to your grocery bill.  The clerk who took my money has hung an American flag outside her home.

• I, the ultimate republican and anti-monarchist (only to be outdone by Christopher Hitchens), was moved to tears at the changing of the guard in Britain when they played the American national anthem as tearful British people watched.  Likewise at the statement of the German chancellor and the NATO declaration.  It’s like Europe has been waiting for sixty years to show America how grateful it was for US participation in WWII and after, and showing it those countries are.

• I am so heartened at the instantaneous supportive response of Russia and China and countries that don’t share our ideology (and no comments about the fact the US isn’t socialist like Canada is!). 

• I’m so glad that so many in PIC have risen above their political differences and partisan squabbles to join as one voice behind the American leader.  Sir and others, a special nod of the head to you; I’m proud to be a member of the same club you are.  We’ll argue about things like capital punishment and school prayer at another time, when we’ll be happy that those are the most important issues facing us…for now, we’re all in the same boat.

• I’m grateful for a media that has shown remarkable thoroughness and professionalism in its coverage, both here and abroad.

• I can’t say enough about the rescue workers, both those in NYC and those traveling there from across the US and Canada.

• I hope and pray that Islam people across the US and Canada remain safe and unharmed, and that we all have the generosity of spirit and of heart to remember that an Arab face is not a terrorist one.

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I’m with Rumsfeld (can you believe those words from my keyboard!):  this is a matter of self-defense, not punishment…and all bets are off.  And it’s incumbent on all of us to support them.

Thurs, Sept  13