Zub Tales

I was going to send out a much different e-mail today. I have some really good news and was quite excited on my way to work today. I thought about typing up a big e-mail and letting all of you know about it. Of course, then I actually arrived at work and discovered that North America would never be the same again.

These are those days that everyone asks “Do you remember where you were when-“

Do you remember where you were on September 11th, 2001 when the World Trade Center fell and the American Pentagon was hit by terrorist attacks?

I’m sure everyone felt the same way I did when I saw it. It wasn’t even horror, I think it was this surreal denial of what you were watching. Every news report had at least one person say “It was like watching a movie.”

And it was…

You’d see that replay footage zipping over and over and you couldn’t help but sanitize it. Like it was a really bad Michael Bay movie called Armageddon 2 or something. But it wasn’t special effects. Everyone who saw it will remember it. It’s like the Challenger, or John Lennon or JFK or the Gulf War. Weird moments everyone remembers where they were. I wasn’t there for JFK, I barely remember the Challenger and I was too young to remember Lennon being shot. But this one is very real and very immediate.

Paranoia was the dish of the day, most understandably. False reports, misinformation and mass confusion. Once the dominoes started, I was waiting for every major US monument to take a tumble simultaneously. Like some Lex Luthor master plan or something. One disaster after another until the superheroes showed up to save the day. I know that sounds like I’m downplaying the tragedy. I’m just trying to quantify the degree of unreality it all had.

Tuesday morning, and the world tilts a little.

I’m not going to even attempt to figure out what comes next. No matter how many experts or reporters they have talking on CNN, none of them have any clue either. There’s no plan that accounts for this. There’s no precedent for what the US may or may not do. This isn’t Pearl Harbor and it’s not Oklahoma City. It’s all new territory we’re covering here. Some sort of high tech retribution from the super powers that be is in order.

I had a really positive e-mail planned. I even started typing it last night. I may actually finish it and send it to all of you. It’s not a denial of what is, but I think it’s important to still do what we do. Doom-sayers are going to be out in droves. I can understand that point of view, but it can’t change me too much. Even if things do get far worse, I’d rather enjoy what is than curl up in a ball and predict even worse.

More now than ever, take care. I don’t care what kind of sentimental drivel this may come off as. I care about each and every one of you that I send this to. There’s a reason why you’re on this list and why I send you these blurbs about my life. Don’t forget that.