It is with great surprise that I look around the Internets this morning and see very little about the anniversary of “the day that changed everything.” Oh, sure CNN has a little section on their homepage, but they’ve probably had that there for a while (dunno – don’t often go to CNN). Otherwise, not much of anything. Is it because Ray Rice and ISIS have consumed too much of the tiny little collective American consciousness? Or is it that “real” America has finally realized they never did much like godless, liberal NYC (or Washington DC for that matter) anyway? I mean, it took decades for America to more or less ignore D-Day and Pearl Harbor, so you’d think 9/11 would have a run of a few more years at least.

Well, screw everybody else – I remember 9/11. Mostly because I was a lot younger then, and in good enough shape to ride my bicycle to work (literally uphill – and down and up and down and up again – both ways). It was a very nice September day as I recall, back when things still made sense in this country and Katie Couric was on the Today Show where she belongs. I also remember how really fucking weird it was to have no airplanes in the sky (except for the occasion military flight – the “Boys from Syracuse” were flying Combat Air Patrol over NYC for a while, back when they still had F-16s. Now they’re gone in favor of a “Reaper” drone video game facility). I mean, even in a hick town like Syracuse, they skies are full of airplanes on a typical day.

Of course, 9/11 turned out to be less of a day that changed everything and more of a “best excuse ever.” Not only were they (or is it “we”?) able to justify the forever war in Afghanistan and the continuing mess that is Iraq, but we (or is it “they”) used it to justify torture, rendition, permanent incarceration without the benefit of hearing before a judge (let alone a trial), massive spying on anyone and everyone – you name it. Not that we didn’t do all that shit before, but now it’s all codified and made legal (if not exactly constitutional – but hey, it’s kinda like Nixon said, “when the President does it, that means it is not illegal”).

One thing that didn’t change from 13 years ago – I still have to go to work. Not by bicycle, I’m afraid (it’s not only about a four times farther trip, but the hills are even bigger). Those days, sadly, are gone.