It will probably be one of those things that people will talk about over time, will dim in memory for a bit but you will still remember. For me those moments so far are the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger (sitting in class in elementary school) and the attacks on the World Trade Center (watching the news while eating breakfast and then... more in reality, talking about it with all my staff at work at UH). When my phone blared on the morning of the 13th, I was laying in bed. It had been a hard night. Wired from a fun wedding and then unable to sleep as I kept thinking about ants as I tossed and turned in bed I had finally fallen asleep with my legs stationed where my head is normally. It occurred to me that an alert would be mirrored in other places a I fought to decide what action(s) should be taken. I checked... went to see if an alert was on TV as my dad was watching, checked alerts on news sites and I mentally figured it was a hoax. I sent a few texts, made a few inquires and then I consciously decided to go back to bed. What would it change? My family knows I love them. The people who are dear to me know I love them too. Maybe I need to say it more but inside I know they know. There was no real place to go? Where would we shelter? Better to be with my parents. There was nothing to lose. What 20 minutes, in reality if a ballistic missile launched from the most real place? Give or take depending when it was detected. Not much time. Not much time at all. I did have a niggling emotion that I had not gotten to know better a young woman I’ve developed a fancy for. Everything else was just... optional.
Maybe it’s wrong of me. I didn’t get upset. oh, I take umbrage to the mistakes happen thing. The reality is, this affects reality— you need double checks so its multiple people making the exact same mistake. It’s not rocket science. Heh. Yes, I did make that joke.
