The Thing About 9/11

I'm going to say a thing, and it's going to sound kind of hippie-ish (especially coming from a hard-ass bitch such as myself). It feels a little weird, to be honest. The whole "KB, Hardcore Crusader for Justice" concept has turned into "One-With-All-The-People, Cup Full 'o Compassion." All zen preachy-like instead of HIT IT WIT A SLEDGEHAMMER. #notmystyle

It also seems horribly naive to feel the way I'm feeling about this. And I'm a bit scared to post this, because of how naive it feels. (I'm sure in a year from now I'll write some self-deprecating blog post retracting this statement. Such fickle creatures, we.)

But.

Today has been a kind of mortifying day on Facebook. It's election season—hell, it's open season on a lot of groups, and the amount of hatred is already unfathomable. But today is a day for remembrance and for respect. What did you learn on 9/11/01? Did you learn to attack your fellow countrymen? Did you learn the art of blaming others? Did you learn to keep hatred alive? Vengeance? Is that really what those of us that died would want us to do? This is most of what I'm seeing, and it makes me sad.

"Never forget" does not mean "harbor anger" or "hold a grudge." It means "remember what happened." And, I wager, to most of us that means "honor."

I don't mean for this to be a holier-than-thou situation. Believe you me, I can be just as hateful as the next person. But it's exhausting, harboring resentment. And on a day like today, we could all use a little compassion.

Do grieve and mourn, but please, respect the grief of your fellow countrymen. That includes shutting up about Kaepernick, about Hillary's health, about Trump's idiocy, just for once. We do not need conspiracy theories, we do not need racism, we do not need blame. We do not need any more hatred. We don't. Allow the man his freedom to kneel; allow Hillary to recover from her pneumonia; allow Trump to be whoever he feels he needs to be. Stop calling each other terrorists because of peaceful protests. Stop with the aggression for just a second. All of it matters to someone, myself included, clearly, but that is not the point today.

The horror lies in the fact that 9/11 happened. No matter what each one of us thinks, no matter what political leanings we have, this wretched thing happened, terribly, and every single person in this country has been affected. And we damn well should be.

Just for one day, let all of us be united in compassion. Let us learn to heal from our collective pain, and not inflict more. Let us not point fingers, and instead try to curb the rage, even for only a little bit. Let us appreciate the one thing that all 325 million of us crazy humans out here have in common: we are Americans, for better or for worse. We are each different kinds of patriots; we are Americans nonetheless.

Let us respect the idea of the liberty that each person in this country craves, and fully respect the different ways of feeling it rather than the different ways of acting against each other. Let us try to understand each other. Let us learn. Please. Just for one day, this remembrance of a day where compassion didn't matter at all. Because if we all do this—if we try for some compassion? Maybe it will be a little easier tomorrow.