9/11--I Kind of Wish We WOULD Forget, Too Much Security/Paranoia
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am probably the only one who feels this way and of course many will think this post tasteless, but it's nonetheless how I feel.
To an extent, I think we should forget 9/11.
What I mean is that, to me, 9/11 has been used as a reason for over-the-top security and the aggravation of things like TSA and schools being almost like prisons. I get tired of having to wait in lines and seemingly having to have a background check done on me just to, say, pick up my kids from school or visit someone at the hospital. It's aggravating, it's inconvenient, and I think that matters, and I think it's an over-the-top reaction.
What bothers me is most people seem just fine & dandy with these everyday aggravations, and think those of us who want live to be a little more convenient and less paranoid are ridiculous. I could not disagree more.
In like manner, I think the way many people now won't let their kids play outdoors unless someone is always there, the way some people flip out over someone doing photography in the street, and the way all these stadiums started banning backpacks on account of the Boston Marathon incident, is a direct result of post 9/11 paranoia. Before, it seems we had a sense of perspective, that, what, 5 people dying in the Boston Marathon bombing shouldn't mean that everyone with a pressure cooker in their kitchen or using a backpack in public should be subject to pat-downs and glares of suspicion. I read about the worst ever school attack, the Bath School disaster, this was in 1927, yet people think school attacks just started the past 10 years or so. Not only that, in the 1927 attack, they rebuilt the school (it had been bombed) right on the same spot within the next year or so, and people moved on. Also, no new laws were introduced.
I think I kind of prefer things to be like that.
In 2012 and 2013, and we would've done likewise this year had our schedules and such allowed it, we vacationed in a group of cabins in northern ARK in the Ozarks. What I liked about it--the laid back atmosphere. All they asked us to do was give our name, that's it. They didn't require a credit card for deposit, they didn't even ask for our ID, our license plate, and they wouldn't take any money from us until it was time to check-out. We tried to "pre-pay" but they were like "no, don't worry about it, we'll deal with that when you check out." Our brother-in-law later went there and noticed the same thing, and loved that about the place as well.
We went to the various "natural" attractions in the area, and it was great--no long lines, no having to submit to pat-downs, no having to empty our bags or leave our bags at home, I took photos of everything I saw and no one freaked out. It was just great.
Also, at one point, the lady who owned the cabins was in our place talking to us, she had her older kids (10-14 or so) with her and they said they wanted to go to the pool, she said "sure, go," and with that they were gone. After awhile we noticed our son of age 3 was not with us, this lady said "don't worry, I'm sure he just went with my kids to play with them." Sure enough, that's where we found him, and he was totally happy and loving it. At one point, at that pool, I was there doing Wi-Fi laptop stuff while he was in the pool, when I was done I told him he needed to go with me. The lady's kids were there they said "we can watch him for you if you'd like," and they did just that, and then brought him back to our cabin when they were done.
To me, THAT is life should be, and it is such a refreshing change from what I otherwise see--people flipping out if their kids play outside in their own yard for more than 5 seconds without constant supervision, people requiring you to practically have a background check just to pick up your kids from school or daycare, people screaming "pervert!" at you when you're taking photos in public that are NOT upskirts etc, the police intervening everytime something goes the slightest bit amiss at school rather than just letting the teachers handle it. I can understand some security, and I can understand places like the FBI or Pentagon having very stringent standards, but to see so much of this in everyday life, I hate it.
I hate it, all of it, and I think people's post-9/11 paranoia, and their acceptance of all of this "security theater," is due to 9/11 and the need to remember, beyond the understandable need to remember the victims and heroes, all of which I understand.
Thoughts?
"Phew", I thought I was the only one! I am not heartless whatsoever. But, how are you suppose to heal if you keep reopening the wound?
I'm pretty sure that the people moaning about airport security on 9/11 are the same people who think that the presence of Christmas trees infringe on their "freedom of religion."
My guess is that if YOU were one of the hundreds of thousands of people that lost a friend or family member, you wouldn't have such a flippant attitude about the whole thing.
Couldn't you do your whining on September 18th or 25th or March 3rd?
People lose family members all the time. People die every day. They die from suicides, accidents, diseases, homicides. No one remembers them except those closest to them. Yet, we're still celebrating this terrorist attack. And by constantly reminding ourselves of this attack through our paranoia, that's exactly what we're doing. Celebrating it. Because of this, the terrorists have won.
Big deal, so you have to go thru more security at airports. I for one welcome more screening because I really don't want to end up a fireball in the sky, thanks. Schools are prisons? How so? Because some have metal detectors at the doors? Security? OH NO!!!!! None of your freedoms have been taken away. And by the way, when you vacation in areas not many people go to, such as those cabins you speak of, you will never experience lines or security. That is nothing new. High volume tourist areas? You're gonna be experiencing lines & security, that's just the way it is. So in conclusion, don't go to those high destination areas if you can't take waiting in lines or security. I know I don't but that's because I'm not one for touristy things.
Dear old Ben didn't have to ponder the idea of terrorists killing thousands of innocent people with a couple of airplanes. I wonder if he would say the same if he lived in the 2000's.
What I mean is that, to me, 9/11 has been used as a reason for over-the-top security and the aggravation of things like TSA and schools being almost like prisons. I get tired of having to wait in lines and seemingly having to have a background check done on me just to, say, pick up my kids from school or visit someone at the hospital. It's aggravating, it's inconvenient, and I think that matters, and I think it's an over-the-top reaction.
Thoughts?
9/11 has been the excuse for over-the-top security, etc.
The loss of our freedoms and civil rights was methodically planned out a long time before 9/11.
I have no desire to get over my fear of flying because I don't want to be subjected to the indignities of modern air travel, up to and including being treated like a criminal because I want to get on an airplane. I've flown post-9/11 and it's a total load of crap. I've also visited a US embassy post-9/11 (on an anniversary of 9/11, in fact) and was told I couldn't bring in a bottle of water or a pot of lip gloss, but a BOOK OF MATCHES AND A CIGARETTE LIGHTER WERE TOTALLY FINE. I had to go through a metal detector and get patted down. It was humiliating. Every official at the Embassy was ensconced behind bulletproof glass, except for the automatic weapon-wielding US Marines.
I'm sick of having my patriotism questioned because I think the Patriot Act is a LOAD OF CRAP and I'm sick of my freedoms being abrogated in exchange for the ILLUSION of safety. Because it really is just an illusion.
If they want to get us, they'll get us. I don't want that to happen, and my heart aches nearly every day for those who died on 9/11, our young men and women in uniform who've given their lives or their health and/or sanity in service in this "war on terror," and for the countless innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
What makes the ache worse is that I feel these sacrifices were utterly futile.
When I cant even bring a bottle of water past security to my flight then something is seriously wrong with the way our govt is reacting to terrorism. "Paranoia" is an understatement.
One guy gets caught with explosives in his shoes so now everyone must remove their shoes.
9/11 hijackers used box cutters so now nobody can bring any sharp object on board.
Now what would happen if someone uses a neck tie to choke a flight attendant? Would the TSA then ban all neckties from flights? How about if someone bludgeons someone on a flight with a laptop or hardcover book? Would they then be banned as well?
I was near Manhattan on this fateful day and had people i knew who never came home. We all can remember the victims in our own special way, but i think the points and "police state" that the USA has become isn't a place we are all happy to be a part of. Sure, we don't mind a little more vigilance here and there, but it seems to me that "authorities" look at everyone funny, people get treated like criminals these days, even though none of us has done anything wrong.
The USG has essentially stolen our freedoms under the guise that they're making us "more safe".
Can't we be "more safe" without having our freedoms stolen?
When I cant even bring a bottle of water past security to my flight then something is seriously wrong with the way our govt is reacting to terrorism. "Paranoia" is an understatement.
One guy gets caught with explosives in his shoes so now everyone must remove their shoes.
9/11 hijackers used box cutters so now nobody can bring any sharp object on board.
Now what would happen if someone uses a neck tie to choke a flight attendant? Would the TSA then ban all neckties from flights? How about if someone bludgeons someone on a flight with a laptop or hardcover book? Would they then be banned as well?
Where does it stop!?
Too much govt regulation where they don't need it and not enough regulation where they do.
Good post. I agree with all you say, its crazy stuff, where does it end?
Airlines are the only company i know of who look at their paying customers as if they're criminals who have to actually prove they're not to use their service.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
