By Nolan Patrick Smith
(Hawaii)–I remember it very well, the day of September the 11th, 2001. I was working at the Cinemark Theaters in the Mall of Victor Valley at the time. I got up early because it was a Tuesday, which meant shipment day. I would go into work every Tuesday to help inventory and stock the shipment, along with a manager. As I was walking out the house, my mom told me a plane hit one of the towers. I originally thought it had to be an accident, so with that thought I left for work.
When I got to the theater, the Store Manager, Mr. Barnum, told me if I heard the news. I said, “you mean about the plane hitting one of the towers?” He then told me that a second plane had hit the other tower, in which my heart dropped. We worked for maybe an hour, bringing in all the shipment while in a daze of uncertainty. We had the radio on so we could hear of any news, but everything we heard kept getting worst and worst. Finally, Mr. Barnum said we were closing for the day, as many of the surrounding food court places did. A tourist bus had pulled up as I lowered the gates, so one restaurant in the food court stayed open to feed these unsuspecting tourists.
On the way home, I stopped at Best Buy to pick up the new Jay-Z CD, The Blueprint. I remember walking in as everyone was in a state of shock. The TV’s were plastered with the images of that day, and they became harder to look at with every passing moment. It wasn’t until later that I learned this was a terrorist attack, but even before I heard that, I knew that the world would change forever from that day forward.
It has changed, dramatically. Since that day, the United States, the world, seems to have lost its innocents in my opinion. The world turned dark that day, as we saw the evils that men do on display for all to see. Yet, we also saw the best of man in first responders and all those that helped, in people who risked their lives to help another, and for many they lost that risk. The world changed; and with that every one of us changed with it. Yet, humanity is strong, the American Spirit is strong, and through the unimaginable pain, we push through each day trying to make the most out of the next 24 hours, and the 24 after that.
-Nolan Smith
Proud American Citizen