Lest we forget

In the background: Thief (from Happiness... Is not a fish that you can catch), Our Lady Peace

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/11/911.anniversary.ap/index.html

The drones of my job didn't matter as much as what the news coverage was unfolding. Nobody was able to work after the second plane hit, the phones were dead until after a few minutes when my co-workers' families got a hold of each other. The events that followed speaks of the truth: Things are never quite the same.

When 9/11 hit, my working visa was still pending and I was in the process of sending another letter to supplement my application. I was in limbo, and somewhat fearing that I would have to pack my bags out of an approval notice arrival that might have been stalled enroute to my mailbox.

A blessing I am not to forget: I received the said approval notice in October 2001, approximately 2 weeks after the tragedy struck. The miracle scared off the skeptic in me even for a brief moment.

We may never forget where we were exactly, or what we were doing at that particular time. However, it can be easy to lose sight of what had happened. People have moved on somewhat, as we are urged to do so, but it will be wrong to think that these tragedies have rendered us invincible.

Kenneth Feinberg: It's a.... job, but someone's got to do it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/60minutes/main582529.shtml

[His job is even more complicated because Congress asked him to evaluate each life, instead of just dividing the total amount in the account by the number of deaths. He was given enormous discretion to interpret the hastily written legislation that created the fund, which was designed primarily to protect the airlines whose planes were used in the attacks from ruinous lawsuits.... What's really unusual here is that Feinberg had the guts to publish a chart outlining the expectation of how much money you would get. And for the first time ever the government was in the position of doing comparative values of human lives.]

I have learned that try as you might, sometimes you just won't be able to please everybody. Mr. Feinberg is faced with the responsibility of labeling the worth of lives lost. On most situations with his job, while deemed to be what he was hired for, his judgments have added grief more than relief.

It was a brave move for him to accept such a Herculean task, and I would be somewhat intrigued to know how I would be graded if I were given the position. Without much thought, I crossed the idea off - challenges build your character but I will pass on this one. This just might be in the same circle of jobs that are not favored too much. Which reminds me...

Got to pay that parking ticket. I know it was your job to do so, but damn you meter maid - did you have to get to my car two minutes before I ran to it with more quarters?