Ground Zero
Mar. 13th, 2005 08:31 pmOne more thing about my little city adventure today: Today I was walking in the financial district, about a block away from Ground Zero. Today I could actually see it from that distance. I don't know if I had always been able to see it, and had just blocked it out, or if maybe I was walking a slightly different route than what I usually do. I didn't go any closer. I didn't peer into that hole in the ground.
I went to the top of the towers once a few years before I moved to NYS, and since September 11th, I haven't felt the need to return, although I have been within a block more than a dozen times. My friend e who grew up partially in NYC gets angry at out-of-towners who come to the city, never having wanted to go to the towers, but now want to go to ground zero. Personally, I can't understand why you would want to go.
I guess I am not sure how to think about the whole thing. I'm not sure if it should be hallowed ground, or a construction site. Given that this is the very heart of the capitalist machine the decision was a forgone conclusion of course. I've also never really thought much of using the term "ground zero" to name the place. It is a term when correctly used describes a much more deadly attack (e.g. Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
I went to the top of the towers once a few years before I moved to NYS, and since September 11th, I haven't felt the need to return, although I have been within a block more than a dozen times. My friend e who grew up partially in NYC gets angry at out-of-towners who come to the city, never having wanted to go to the towers, but now want to go to ground zero. Personally, I can't understand why you would want to go.
I guess I am not sure how to think about the whole thing. I'm not sure if it should be hallowed ground, or a construction site. Given that this is the very heart of the capitalist machine the decision was a forgone conclusion of course. I've also never really thought much of using the term "ground zero" to name the place. It is a term when correctly used describes a much more deadly attack (e.g. Hiroshima and Nagasaki).