I dread this day. Not just because of the memory of people I lost, not because of the memory of the hours spent worrying about my brother and sister, not because of the memory of the endless nights afterwards I went without sleep because of the fighter jets buzzing in a pattern over my apartment in Hoboken. I dread this day because for as much as people want this to be a day of remembrance and honor, many seem to have forgotten how to do that. In the days, weeks, months after 09/11/01, the world seemed a little smaller. People were kinder to each other. We forgot our differences, we found ways to work together, we did whatever we could to try to make our mark in the aftermath. We WANTED to help.
I don't need to wear a ribbon or change my Facebook profile picture to remind me that the memory of that day is burned in my brain. Nine years later, it's the memory of people being part of the "human community" that is unfortunately fading. We can do better, we must do better.
Nearly 30 years ago, Billy Bragg released the album Life's a Riot With Spy vs. Spy featuring a track he described as "a concept: the concept being that if there is a 'milk of human kindness', or a Coffee Mate of human kindness if you like, there must be a milkman to deliver it."
In these days when we argue over who is or isn't a terrorist, who is or isn't a patriot, who is or isn't working towards a solution to make things better, I think we would all be well-served by taking on the role of "the milkman of human kindness." I know that I, for one, could stand to share a pint or two with the rest of the world.
