RememberingWritten by Joanna M. Carman
As anniversary of September 11 approaches, we find ourselves once again drudging up compassion and patriotism, ready to light candles and join hands with strangers for sake of peace and unity. Countless memorials across our nation will host thousands of tears praying, begging for a better world where planes are not flown into our mothers, brothers, and friends. Just as weeks that followed September 11, 2001, Americans will stand together, united in our hope for love and kindness for all mankind. Everyone I know wants to do something grand, wants to hold hands and give hugs, maybe take dinner to an elderly woman. We'll turn our headlights on that day and hang our flags at half-mast. We will honk at painted man holding his flag high on highway overpass. However, as great as it is to have this unity back in our hearts, I can't help but feel disgusted that in last half of year, everyone forgot that little feeling of togetherness that carried our nation through those first few months of recovery. After debris was cleared away from Ground Zero, after all survivors' wounds were dressed, and all television programming was back to normal, it seems as if Americans also returned to our old ways. It didn't take long for some of us to attempt to fraud various charities setup for families and victims of 9-11. In fact, some news reports tell of husbands killing their wives, passing off teary- eyed stories about how their soul mates were killed at World Trade Center - lies that are true for many of our neighbors. This less than a year after we all held hands and cried together. Television news brings you reports of parents having sex with their 3- year-old child over a webcam, all for pleasure of their fellow abusive parents. There's fighting everywhere.
| | When I Grow up...Written by Myrtis Smith
One of my favorite commercials was an ad for Monster.com. It showed fresh-faced kids looking into camera and sharing their dreams for future. We're accustomed to kids saying they want to be a doctor, or an astronaut, or a ballerina, but instead these kids said, "When I grow up, I want to be a brown nose," and "When I grow up, I want to be in middle management" and "When I grow up, I want to be a yes-man." The kids are so cute and their answers are so absurd you can't help but laugh. But looking at your own life, can you still laugh? Or are you on verge of crying, because you are stuck in middle management, you have a brown nose, and you are definitely a yes-man (or woman). Kids have a distinct advantage over most adults: they are free to dream. If a 10 year old says "I want to be a doctor," everyone smiles and says "You can do it. You can be anything you want to be." If a 40 year old mother of three says "I want to be a doctor," most of people around her will likely say "Go back to school at your age? Where will you find money? Do you have any idea how long that will take?" What's wrong with that picture?
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