I Wonder ...

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Trying to come to grips with our shaken world

by Greg Johns

I wonder what it'll feel like the next time I board an airplane.

I wonder how long it'll take before I don't look up quickly at the sound of a low-flying jet overhead.

I wonder if life feels this uncertain in Seattle, how can it possibly feel to be a citizen of New York or Washington, D.C.?

I wonder if the people waving flags and honking horns at street corners across America will still carry the same patriotic fervor if we get into an extended war in the Middle East and another wave of body bags is needed to bring home some of our sons and daughters lost in the fight.

I wonder how you fight an invisible enemy.

I wonder how you fight an enemy that has been living among us.

I wonder how much we aren't being told.

I wonder how anyone in the world can hate so much that they'd murder 5,000 innocent people.

I wonder how you apply the death penalty to those terrorists without applying the death penalty to more innocent people.

I wonder what to tell my kids when they ask why all this is happening.

I wonder what to tell myself when my kids ask why all this is happening.

I wonder how the world can be such a beautiful and ugly place at the same time.

I wonder how cool it'll feel to see 45,000 flag-waving fans at Safeco Field on Tuesday.

I wonder how weird it'll feel when the Mariners clinch their division title, but decline to celebrate with anything more than quick handshakes out of respect to the millions who can't celebrate right now.

I wonder how just six days ago I could have thought these coming weeks -- with the Mariners pursuing history and a World Series berth -- would be a time of joy we'd remember the rest of our lives.

I wonder how hollow those events will feel now, if they happen at all.

I wonder how long the images of that terrible Tuesday will be burned into our brains.

I wonder if worse is yet to come.

I wonder how the friends and family members of so many victims can bravely stand in front of TV cameras and tell their stories and clutch their pictures and maintain hope in the face of such desperate odds.

I wonder how many tears I have left.

I wonder if George W. Bush is ready for what's next.

I wonder if any of us are ready for what's next.

I wonder exactly what happened aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

I wonder if I'd have had the courage to take on the hijackers in a similar situation.

I wonder if the hijackers would have the courage to take on the rest of us now that we know what to expect.

I wonder if Dan Rather wants to take a break this week.

I wonder if the news will allow Dan Rather to take a break this week.

I wonder how long it'll be before I don't turn on the TV as soon as I wake up, just to make sure no new tragedies rocked the world as I slept.

I wonder why I ever thought we'd make it through my lifetime without a major war.

I wonder how anyone who works in a towering skyscraper can feel safe going to work any more.

I wonder how many Americans know the Soviet Union engaged in a decade-long war trying to gain control of Afghanistan before giving up about 10 years ago.

I wonder how many Americans know that anti-Soviet guerillas - including Osama bin Laden - were funded in part by the U.S. government during that war.

I wonder how many of the 5,000 people who lost their lives in New York had a damn thing to do with Middle East politics.

I wonder how many of the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and children of the 5,000 people who lost their lives in New York had a damn thing to do with Middle East politics.

I wonder how long it took the terrorists to plan Tuesday's attack.

I wonder how long it will take us to forget.

I wonder if war is the right response.

I wonder what choice we have.

Greg Johns can be reached by e-mail at gjohns@juno.com.



-- Debra (Thisis@it.com), September 20, 2001

Answers

I wonder what form of bio-chems they will use.? anthrax--plague-tularemia-smallpox,or the cocktail they used on the KURDS.still I wonder about the pestilence & plagues>mentioned in book of revelation.VIALS poured out. ''Prepare TO Meet Thy Maker"" seems more realistic now!!!

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), September 20, 2001.

Who's Greg Johns? Sounds like a real wussy.

-- i wonder (how long it will be @ before you wussies. let the NWO fascists take over our country), September 20, 2001.

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