11 September 2008

Am I the Only Ostrich?

I've been surfing around today, emotionally reading summaries of what everyone was doing seven years ago today. "Where were you when the Towers came down?" they all ask. For conversation's sake, I was at work. But I didn't go with the rest of the company to crowd around the TV and watch the hours of repeated coverage. I didn't want to know the worst. It's something that became a joking 'rule' at my parents' house a long time ago. I never watch the news, because there's always something that will make me upset. So I don't watch things that upset me.

Reading that, I sound incredibly shallow, but it still doesn't guilt me into wanting to see the 9-11 coverage, or even watch the evening news. Maybe I've been on crisis overload for longer than I can even remember, but I don't want any bad news.

Even after my avoidance of the coverage and conversations of the tragedy, a counselor I saw a couple years later said I probably had post-traumatic stress from the 'event.' C'mon. I was hundreds of miles away and refused information about it. Her theory? I've absorbed other peoples' stress, worry and paranoia about what might happen next.

Am I the only ostrich who doesn't want to rehash it? Are there others out there who still haven't sat through the news broadcasts played everywhere, and repeated on each anniversary?

8 comments:

Tracey said...

Hi! I'm one of those people who rehash it every year. My husband was in the military when 9/11 happened, and his ship was the first to respond (retaliate?) to 9/11. So, 9/11 was a very emotional time for me. Great blog!

Anonymous said...

Having gone thru the coverage of the Murrah bombing in Oklahoma several years before (as well as having been less than a mile from the event when it happened) I also elect to not watch such coverage. I will usually watch something once to get the pertinent information and then I turn off coverage when it comes on . I do NOT intend to rehash every little detail ever again.

Amy Anderson said...

I'm a fellow ostrich. I try my hardest to avoid talking about that day, or watching coverage, or reading about other people's experiences. For me, it hit too close to home (literally) and I just want to bury my head and avoid it.

Colleen - Mommy Always Wins said...

You're definitely not the only one! At the time, I watched as much coverage, read as many articles and surfed the Web for as many stories as I could. But now, I can't bring myself to see the Flight 93 movie, and instead of re-opening old wounds, this year I focused on teaching my 4yo about heros instead.

siteseer said...

At the time they brought a tv into the office to see every detail. I chose to work!! I was afraid that if I watched I'd never stop crying. I now get news in clips - enough to get the details then that's enough. It's one thing if it's your responsiblity or if there is something you can do about it. If not then a quick overview is all I need. Color me shallow too.

Tiffany said...

I'm an ostrich at times. It is incredibly hard to rehash a lot of that. When it happened I was glued to the TV in horror. As time goes on I am able to think about it but I do end up in tears every time.

Remembering is great. Rehashing is hard.

Fighting Mama said...

While I am not an ostrich, my husband totally is. We both basically refuse to watch the news now because it all just sucks. They should change it from the "news" to "bad news".

Don't journalists say "If it bleeds, it leads".

ICK.

For a daily dose of GOOD news - check out oddtodd.com, link is on the left.

Michelle said...

I don't blame you for not wanting to rehash 911 or watch the news. 911 was a terrible thing to watch. I was at work that day too. I just couldn't believe my eyes. I did watch what was happening on 911 but I won't watch what the media broadcast on the 911 anniversary each year. The media should just leave these poor families in peace.