gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Default)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2002-08-25 10:02 am

I had an idea last night.

As everyone knows, we are fast approaching the first anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Everyone is discussing how the best memorialize the event, and the people lost. Here's my two cents.

A day of silence on the Internet. For one calendar day, starting at 0001 11 SEP 02, your local time, stop posting, emailing, surfing whatever. A global day of silence moving around the world. I realize that this would be impossible for those in business who rely on the net, but I think it would be a powerful statement. I remember on that day the messages on the Traveller Mailing List to our NYC members asking "are you ok?" And I know the terrible silence when one person never replies to those calls.

So for one day, stay off the net. It will survive. talk on the phone, go for a walk, or just remember how much we all lost on the terrible day, one year ago.

[identity profile] jilesa.livejournal.com 2002-08-26 08:04 am (UTC)(link)
The internet is not very intimate.

This just points up the truth that 'people are different'. See, for me, real time chat on the Internet is WAY more intimate than a phone call. That's mostly because I'm so visually oriented that just hearing words without visual cues feels like having half a conversation, even with someone I know very well and love dearly. All of my closest friends and loved ones live over 700 miles away from me, so dropping by for an in-person visit is not an option.

While I understand and support the desire to memorialize September 11, this particular means of doing so would serve only to isolate me at a time when I need connections to my loved ones. I think it may be a good memorial activity for some, but not for me.

[identity profile] fimbrethil.livejournal.com 2002-08-26 12:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Fair enough. I agree, what works for some people doesn't work for all.

People Are Different

[identity profile] opals.livejournal.com 2002-08-29 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree with this very much. I for one can't afford to call people because I only have a cell phone available. I'm in bad financial straits and I'd rather not further my distress in that respect.

I would like to agree with [livejournal.com profile] ororo who says that there is most likely no one right way to memorialize that day.

I'm hoping I can work on a memorial quilt that day and be here to support my friends.

Mahalo for listening