christian ross

Free shares of bankruptcy!

NOTE: Sorry for the length, it’s a Sunday evening rant.

Initially my thought this year was to purchase everyone on my Christmas list the same thing this year. Not because it would make my life super-easy but mainly because I feel that no matter what position you are in financially, it’s a good read and something I know we have benefited from going through. Ultimately though, I decided against it. It is a sensitive subject to approach and it would be far too easy to have somebody think I was calling them out.

One of the things that we have been striving for since taking the class is to live differently than how we use to live (much less how 70% or more of America lives). Accruing debt. Sadly, I could have used the lessons long before I entered college and we surely would be much farther ahead at this point in time.

Either way, one of the things both the book and the class talk about is being a slave to the mindset of “we’ll always have a car payment.” While not easy, we are working towards training ourselves to think differently than this approach.

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Lest we forget

Seven years ago I was standing before thirty 7th graders trying to explain the actions and consequences of those I didn’t really understand. And to be honest, I don’t really feel like I understand the ‘why’ much more today.

On September 10th, 2001 we were comfortable. We had no worries. We had no idea of how quickly the world can be turned on its ear. The next day we learned. The hard way.

As I sit here on September 11th, 2008 I wonder where are we now? In some sense I think we are closer to the feelings of 9/10/01 than 9/11/01. Which is sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for more fear mongering, more war, more color charts for terror levels or more hatred. What I’m hoping is that we hold to what every single American said on September 12th, 2001… we promised to never forget. We promised to never let it happen again. We promised to make a difference.

(I have a pretty deep disdain for bumper stickers. Especially message bumper stickers. Whether it is a ‘Jesus fish’ or a ‘Never Forget 9/11′ I think it is one of the laziest forms of working for a cause. Please don’t take my thoughts/ramblings as a bumper sticker for my cause.)

Do the 900 or so people who have gathered the last few days at the WTC site with chants and signs claiming that we are creators of all this bother you? This mess was not a government conspiracy. It was the result of some poor decisions by misled people who are daily being told that it is their best/only option.

Where are we as a people that we would claim/blame responsibility on ourselves for a senseless act of such proportion of another human? I’m all for accepting responsibility for my actions, but these weren’t my actions. And they weren’t the actions of the 2700 that died in those two towers or in PA or DC. Or the media. Or George Bush.

We do have a responsibility though. One to uphold the legacy of those who were most affected. The victims, the firefighters, the police officers, the people who had no business going up into those buildings but still did, the pilots and flight attendants, the brave souls of United 93 who put the country above their own life, and the families of every person involved. They deserve better.

Don’t cast them off like old news. At least for a day. Give them that. Don’t be like Keith Olberman and try to brush them under the rug.

For today take just a moment if you will, to remember. Remember where you were, how you felt and the action that you promised to do from that point forward.