I visited Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center, during my trip to New York this past weekend. Had I gone there more recently after the 9/11 terrorist attacks had happened, I’m sure my experience would have been entirely different. The experience I did have, however, mostly lacked emotional impact. There was a small memorial near the site, but mainly what I saw was a construction site (see the photo I took). I don’t really think this is a bad thing since it shows that progress is being made in moving forward. Still, I feel like I was supposed to feel more than what I actually felt. I almost feel as if I should feel guilty about that, but I don’t really.

At the time when the terrorist attack occurred, I was woefully ignorant of anything having to do with New York. I had heard of the World Trade Center, but I had no idea what it was. I didn’t know that it consisted of a pair of the tallest buildings in New York City. I was even unfamiliar with the New York skyline so that when I saw pictures of what the buildings had looked like and of the destruction inflicted upon them I didn’t recognize them. When I heard of the attacks, I had no TV so I saw no pictures (at least in the immediate few days after the event), and after a few hours of listening to the radio I got tired of hearing about it so much that I just turned it off. I had a vague sense that something had changed in the mood of the nation and I felt moved by the stories of the victims, but I didn’t really get it; I was too caught up in drama going on in my personal life at the time. Also, New York was all the way on the east coast so I felt disconnected from what happened there like what went on there may as well have been going on in London. I better understood the significance of the event as more time passed (as well as feeling more connected to what happens elsewhere in the world), but I think I lack the depth of appreciation for the event that many others have.

Anyway, it was interesting to see where the most important event (in terms of political ramifications) in recent times had occurred, and being at the site and walking in the city around it I really did get a better sense of the magnitude of an attack that could take down buildings of such size.