Reflections on 9/11

AP
AP

Walking in to the World Trade Center was always an anticipation-filled experience. Sure, the parking choices were not the best and what was available was highway robbery. It didn’t matter, though, once you stepped into the giant lobby and headed up the escalator.

New York was filled with skyscrapers, but there was only one World Trade Center complex. Buildings dwarfed in its presence and citizens spoke in hushed tones filled with respect as they entered the North Tower; beginning their skyward journey to Windows on the World, the famed restaurant and bar.

Windows, as good as the food was, was not about the food. It was about the idea that mere humans could create something so majestic, so spectacular, that other nations and diplomats would be filled with wonder. And they were.

If you stood very still, you could almost experience a sense of vertigo by feeling the nearly imperceptible, slight sway of the building. After convincing yourself it must be imagined, the slowly shifting water in the wash closets would confirm the building was, in fact, moving just a little bit.

At dusk, the seats would be filled, cocktails ready, anticipating another spectacular evening watching the day turn to night over New York City.

Deals were made, proposals were offered, breakups smoothed over and power dinners consummated. If those walls could have spoken, we’d probably understand a lot more about the world and why anyone would want to destroy such a feat of construction and a symbol of American power.

There are a lot of very smart people who think that’s precisely why it was destroyed. Factions in certain parts of the world were getting tired of our interference in their affairs. Somehow we became the police force of a globe we could never fully grasp or fathom due to social and cultural differences.

After all, the countries of the world, for the most part, don’t seem to appreciate our “help”. In fact, they seem to view it as bullying and unwanted interference.

On this day, in the aftermath of the greatest tragedy in United States history, the question must be asked, “What have we learned from 9/11?”

It seems the citizens have learned a lot. You can decide if you think American leaders have learned from what we have been through as a nation.

Elizabeth Dougherty has been a food writer for over 10 years, attended culinary school and holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude in Hospitality, Business and Labor Relations from NYIT. She has been a talk show host of nearly 250 episodes of Food Nation Radio which airs each Saturday morning at 8 on the Business Talk Radio Network nationwide, Saturday afternoons at 4 on flagship WWBA AM820 News, and Sunday mornings at 8 in Orlando and on the Space Coast on WAMT AM1190 News and WIXC AM1060 News, respectively. You can read her articles and hear previous shows on her podcast page on the Food Nation Radio Network website and on Facebook.