midwest 9/11

9/11 came and went today with barely a mention here. There was only a short bit on the news about the Pentagon Memorial and only a little quarter-page blurb on the front of the Herald-Times newspaper. At work, there was no moment of silence or All-Staff email from the University Presidents anything like that. There was a ceremony at the Bloomington City Hall that included remarks, a prayer, and "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes, but the focus was "Honoring our Police and Firefighters," not remembering victims. To be fair, there was a big article on the front page of the student newspaper and there were candle light vigils planned on campus this evening, but considering 25% of IU students are from the East Coast that's not too surprising. Overall, not much. No one at work even mentioned the day's significance.

Back in Virginia, especially working for Arlington County, 9/11 was always a big deal. I remember every community having their own little 9/11 memorial, and on this day, their own ceremony of sorts. It seemed everyone in Northern Virginia had some sort of three-step connection to someone who died that day, and I knew folks that actually watched the plane fly over their heads on the way to the Pentagon. Now, I'm not all weepy sentimental, so I was surprised today that I missed some of that ceremony and the retelling of some of those stories.

I guess the point is that our move to Indiana has resulted in this being the first year since 2001 that 9/11 didn't really make much of an impact - back at MHz it was always retelling of stories or noticing that some coworker was taking the day off. At Arlington, it was a big part of our job to cover the big bell-ringing on Courthouse Plaza that would be attended by hundreds. There was a moment of silence, flags hung on office buildings, and it seemed to be all over the TV. I guess somehow here, 500 miles away from New York and Arlington, 9/11 is more a conceptual attack on values or something like that and less a plume of smoke visible from your window. And I'm not sure how I feel about that.