4:37 PM Thu, Sep 11, 2008 | Permalink
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This is perhaps a very petty blog on this momentous day, but it is one that I felt compelled to note.
As I was driving I saw a small group of people walking down Clayton Road. They weren't making a "fuss", just walking. But they carried American flags. Big flags. I couldn't help but think they were taking their time to commemorate 9/11. I didn't know how to honor them except to get out of my car at the red light and salute. Now... I am not a military person so I don't know if my salute was incorrect, but it was all I could think of at the time. However, a woman in a Range Rover behind me began "honking" her horn because I wasn't in my car turning. Now, this is a neighborhood light that is hardly a busy light and does not keep anyone waiting very long. I was stunned. Perhaps she didn't see the parade (not likely) or perhaps she had serious business to attend to. I don't know. I scooted back into my car and drove off, although with a bit of passive aggressiveness, very slowly, making her drive 35 mph. I don't know if that would encourage her to think about 9/11, or if it just made me feel better. At any rate, I remember being at Lambert on 9/11 and talking to people just trying to get home any way they could (all planes were grounded - so many people ended up in STL because that's where their flights were when the edict came down) and I remember talking to an American Airlines pilot (Arnie - you know you are the one I'm referring to) who'd lost friends that very day.
So... long story, although I didn't lose a relative on that day, I mourn those who my friends, even my "interviewees" lost. And if I can't stall one left hand turn lane for 15 seconds to remember them... then I am going to be a stodgy old lady and drive 15 mph for the next half mile so the Range Rover behind me has time to think about what this date means.
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