Remember 9/11

[Flint]

Originally Posted by DanaC

...
For the youngsters approaching young adulthood it is one of the foundations upon which their modern world is built. It is part of the ground on which they tread.

Like the Cold War. I don't know anybody who didn't have nightmares about nuclear missle attacks.

I wonder what kind of nightmares are making the rounds these days?

Edit: The important difference being, on second thought, that the nuclear war never happened (unless you're Japanese), whereas we're talking about an event here which did happen. What's worse, as far as "nightmare material," the suspenseful build-up, or the actual event?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Flint

Like the Cold War. I don't know anybody who didn't have nightmares about nuclear missle attacks.

When I was 10 I believed that nuclear war was inevitable. It had been talked about so much and we had been given instructions on what to do - I just lived with it as something that was coming at some point.

What I had childhood nightmares about was being blown up on the Tube. In the end it wasn't the IRA that hit the Tube, it was the Islamic terrorists, but the IRA were targeting stations (as well as pubs, tourist attractions, hotels etc etc) and it was my own private, personal fear. Before every trip we took to London (and we spent a lot of our holiday time there) I lay away for hours, crying and offering frantic prayers to my Guardian Angel and to Mary as they were known to be softer hearted than God. I was terrified of being trapped in that rushing dark with smoke and death and splinters.

Edit: The important difference being, on second thought, that the nuclear war never happened (unless you're Japanese), whereas we're talking about an event here which did happen. What's worse, as far as "nightmare material," the suspenseful build-up, or the actual event?

I would say - both. The IRA were a very real threat, and hit targets in England enough times that they weren't just bogeymen - they were killers. I was never actually afraid in London. Once I was on the journey, with my parents, grandparents, siblings, I felt protected, normal, unworried. It was the night before that was the issue. Alone and frightened and knowing that I wasn't just being silly because people had died.

The actual events were worse of course. Although I was never involved, some of them make me cry even today. I find it hard to talk about Enniskillen and Omagh for example - I wrote about Enniskillen on here somewhere and it still made me so angry.

Terrorism is worse than the fear of nuclear attack imo. Because it's the gift that keeps on giving. You get disruption, fear, suspicion, insecurity, and the acceptance that what has happened before will happen again except this time it might take your family with it. And someone, somewhere will be celebrating when they do.