So many other journallers/webloggers have written so much about the events of these past 9 days. I don't feel that I can add very much to that, without repeating what everyone else has expressed. My heart goes out to us all, because we all lost something that day.

For the record, I was home with throat, sinus, and ear infections all last week. I likely wouldn't have heard about the tragedies until much later in the day if I hadn't popped into work a little after 6 a.m. to grab a few things that HAD to get done. My officemate was already there, and asked if I had heard the news. On my way back across the street, I decided that I was still asleep, and had dreamed what she told me. (Those who know me in real life can tell you that this is a possibility, because I am just not a morning person.) On the off chance that it was reality, I flipped on the news when I got back -- and hardly left the couch for the next two days.

Here in Hawaii, the events themselves were over before most of us would normally be awake, but word spread quickly. I called and woke Kevin on Maui to tell him what was happening. I called my mom. My best friend called me. A couple of friends without a TV called and braved my Evil Jungle Sickness to watch TV with me for a couple of hours. My heart broke, and I cried.

I am shocked and saddened and angry and worried. I worry about what's next, what other horrible acts are to come -- but I also worry about our own reactions. We've already seen antipathy and even violence toward Arab and Muslim Americans, the vast majority of whom are as shocked and saddened and angry and worried as we are. We've seen scam artists come out of the woodwork, soliciting money in the name of charities that don't exist so that they can line their own pockets. I no sooner mentioned to Kevin that I was glad to see so many people putting aside their differences and coming together to help one another when I read the words of that despicable hatemonger Jerry Falwell, backed by the equally scary Pat Robertson. That these idiots would try to twist what has happened to serve their own twisted agenda is beyond contempt.

Life here will be drastically affected. Usually crowded Waikiki seems almost like a ghost town because of all the cancelled and delayed flights. Interisland air carriers have already cut their flights by at least 25%. Hotel occupancy is way down, and layoffs are on the way. Smart people have been saying for years that we need to dilute our reliance on tourism as the bedrock of the economy, but we just build more hotels and shopping centers and look on in surprise when it all comes crashing down. The airlines are our lifeblood, even without tourism. We can't decide to hop in the car and drive to L.A. instead of flying. We're dependent, and the prospect of fewer, more expensive flights is frankly pretty scary. A large part of the population here is military and we have several military bases, which makes us target. There were rumors last week that there were other planes, other hijack plans or attempts that failed, and that we were the target of one of them. Scary, scary stuff.
- posted by Lori @ 8:55:00 PM | permanent link | |