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<\/a>Inflection points – \u00a0events that not only change the course of <\/strong>\u00a0history<\/b> but our collective psyche as well.\u00a0 For many of us the first such event was the Kennedy assassination.\u00a0 Prior to November 22, 1963, we were a nation energized by a young President with fresh ideas and plans – plans that were to be carried out by those “born of a new generation”.\u00a0<\/strong> When JFK was cut down it was shocking and unnerving. \u00a0 And, one could argue, changed who we are. \u00a0There is a much-quoted conversation that took place after the assassination between journalist Mary McGrory and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then assistant secretary of labor.\u00a0 She lamented, “We’ll never laugh again.” He replied: “Mary, we’ll laugh again. It’s just that we’ll never be young again.” Many hopes and dreams died that day, as well as our collective feeling of security <\/strong>and our way of life.\u00a0\u00a0As some sociologists have noted, November 22, 1963 was the end of the Fifties.<\/strong><\/p>\nTo this day many of us tear up when recalling the image of the Twin Towers collapsing.\u00a0 It remains hard to think about the people who perished<\/strong> that day – people who left home for work on a bright, blue-sky Tuesday morning and never returned.\u00a0 The very notion of that was – is –<\/em> frightening and causes us, once again, to question how secure we really are.\u00a0 The fear of an imminent terror attack<\/strong> began impacting our everyday lives that day.\u00a0 Suddenly we had to remove our shoes at the airport and limit the amount of shampoo<\/strong> we carry on a plane. \u00a0 Socially, it brought on a lot of change too.\u00a0 For the first few months after 9\/11 it seemed we were able to put our differences aside, but that fraternity soon dissipated and has now devolved to a point where divisiveness rules the day . \u00a0 In many ways, it has been the 60’s all over again with an extra dose of anger thrown in.<\/p>\n Which brings me to the unintended consequences<\/strong> of 9\/11. \u00a0At some level we live with fear on a daily basis – fear that it could happen again to us or someone we love. \u00a0We \u00a0witness repeated terrorist attacks carried out all over the world that target ordinary people doing ordinary things. \u00a0I believe that the discord in our society is, in part, a manifestation of that fear.\u00a0 I hope at some point we can recapture the unity<\/strong> we had in the aftermath of 9\/11 and once again pull together.\u00a0 Hurricane Harvey, as devastating and heart-breaking as it’s been, has shown me that people really can come together when fellow citizens are in need.\u00a0 Sandra Bullock put it best when she Tweeted:\u00a0 “There are no politics in 8 feet of water.\u00a0 There are human beings in 8 feet of water.”\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 Maybe this is a new beginning.\u00a0 A new inflection point that causes us to remember that more often than not, most of the time we’re all just human beings in 8 feet of water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Inflection points – \u00a0events that not only change the course of \u00a0history but our collective psyche as well.\u00a0 For many of us the first such event was the Kennedy assassination.\u00a0 Prior to November 22, 1963, we … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/lho_oswald_shot_ruby-300x221.jpg\")
<\/a>The assassination changed us in ways we could not have predicted at the time.\u00a0 After that, Americans increasingly distrusted the Federal government<\/strong> (particularly after publication of the Warren Report) and yet, ironically, it also precipitated the largest expansion of government into our everyday lives.\u00a0 We became embroiled in a war that many argue Kennedy would not have supported and our culture was flush with sex, drugs and a whole lot of anger.\u00a0 Of course, there were good changes as well – civil rights and the women’s movement to name two – but certainly the innocence of the prior decade<\/strong> was gone forever. \u00a0It also marked the rise of television over newspapers.\u00a0 Everyone was glued to black and white screens, watching events unfold for three days. \u00a0And why not?\u00a0 It was compelling and the only way to stay abreast of changing events.\u00a0 For me, I remember watching Lee Harvey Oswald being escorted down that fateful corridor in the Dallas police station when Jack Ruby shot him.\u00a0 The experience of seeing someone killed in real time<\/strong> was jarring and disturbing.\u00a0 Millions of people experienced that same shock.\u00a0 Coupled with the assassination, how could we not be affected going forward?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/world_trade_center_1160603_1-300x222.jpg\")
<\/a>The next time I saw anyone murdered was sixteen years ago today – September 11, 2001.\u00a0 I flipped on CNBC that morning while getting ready for work.\u00a0 The first plane had already hit Tower One and the hosts were speculating that it was a freak accident<\/strong>.\u00a0 They mused about whether it would have an affect on the stock market since so many trading firms were in that building.\u00a0 Then the unimaginable happened – the second plane hit.\u00a0 I watched it in horror; this time it wasn’t one person I saw killed, but thousands.\u00a0 Thanks to the 24 hour news cycle we were all witness to\u00a0 explosions and fire and falling bodies<\/strong> over and over again for weeks.\u00a0 I’m not sure we yet fully understand the toll that it took on us. Surely our national mindset was altered<\/strong> after watching all of the carnage and grief.\u00a0 A grief that I believe is still evident after all these years.<\/p>\n