THE SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACK | SIX MONTHS LATER
Six months after Sept. 11, a new kind of normal
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| • | Rudy Giuliani: Americans remain unterrorized |
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Six months have passed since that dark morning of Sept. 11 and, for many, the comforting assumptions and routines of work, family and community have been challenged, sometimes knocked apart, by the new rules of life in a wary nation.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The sight of armed soldiers at the airport is now familiar. The ID check, the searches upon entering offices and government buildings and baseball games is expected. The extra time calculated to catch that Neighbor Island flight, the strategy of packing light, or packing nothing at all, is routine. The nervous laughter about a strange-looking envelope in the office mail, or the glance up at the sky as a jet rumbles past the towers of Waikiki, is just part of the day.
National Guard troops, armed with rifles, continue to turn up daily at Honolulu International Airport for security duty.
Nearly all of us had to find our own way with this new reality.
For some, the adjustments are brutally practical — a job lost because the decline in the tourism industry. Others struggle with troubles that are harder to define, feelings of apprehension, anger, fear.
But while the Sept. 11 attacks have introduced new layers of anxiety, inconvenience and bureaucracy into lives that were already jammed with stress and obligation, Hawai'i is adjusting.
"We are a very resilient society. But people are aware of our vulnerability, and it's still affecting them," said Susan Doyle, the co-chairwoman of a task force of social services formed after Sept. 11.
In the weeks after Sept. 11, churches were packed with people searching for answers. Families clung to one another and forgave each other's irritations. Streets were lined with American flags and homemade banners that expressed universal themes of outrage and national pride. Support for the military swelled.
As the months passed, church attendance has returned to pre-September levels. Most of the handmade signs that popped up on garage doors and freeway overpasses have disappeared.
Flags distributed in The Advertiser are still posted in the windows of homes and businesses, but most are faded. Support for the military remains strong, but local recruiters haven't seen a significant increase in enlistments.
Even some of those who were shaken by the events of Sept. 11 and vowed to take a hard look at their lives have since backtracked.
'Trivial' concerns return
Associated Press
Several couples told marriage and family therapist Christine Heath that the things they came into counseling for were, in retrospect, "trivial."
As the six-month anniversary approaches, Ground Zero remains flattened, but much of the debris has been cleared.
"Looking at the things they were arguing about were not that big of a deal in comparison to bombings and people losing loved ones," Heath said. "That was a pretty common theme for several months. As time goes on, the humdrum things became bigger again."
Some simply don't have the luxury of introspection.
The most enduring and far-reaching impact of Sept. 11 in Hawai'i remains the hit taken by the tourism industry, which has been battered by the loss of thousands of visitors who are afraid of flying or afraid of spending money or both. In the last week of February, more than 15,000 people were claiming unemployment benefits, up from about 9,000 in February 2001, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Social service agencies, for the most part, continue to plead for food, clothes and money as donations have fallen while demand has not.
"Many agencies continue to make adjustments to try to accommodate the newly needy, but the feeling is that the other shoe has yet to drop," said Doyle, who is also the Aloha United Way vice president for community building. "The number of visible homeless has increased. And starting in the next few months, people staying with grandma or their mom and dad will find those relationships strained and so they'll be out."
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Other, more positive changes have taken hold:
U.S. flags and other patriotic symbols are still big sellers. At the Flags Flying shop at Ward Warehouse, owner Mary Phillips says she had to double her sales staff to five people.
• Enrollment at community colleges rose across the University of Hawai'i system by an average of 7.9 percent.
"Sept. 11 was a motivator to get people moving," said Marilyn Walsh, public information officer for the UH's seven community colleges. "People aren't putting off until tomorrow because they have this new urgency."
• Patriotic items, especially U.S. flags, continue to sell. Sales at Flags Flying at Ward Warehouse shot up right after Sept. 11 and today remain 30 percent above normal. Owner Mary Phillips had to double her sales staff to a total of five people.
• Some arts organizations have experienced a relatively strong season, even as the local economy has contracted. The Honolulu Theatre for Youth is struggling financially but selling out shows as families search for wholesome things to do, said artistic director Mark Lutwak.
"Sept. 11 seemed like an apocalyptic event and now people are saying, 'Wow, what is really important?" Lutwak said. "Friends, family, your community."
• Support for the military, regarded uneasily by some Hawai'i residents for many years, has grown, according to national polls. Marine Maj. Chris Hughes constantly has people shake his hand and say thanks. "That always means a lot," he said. "There is a genuine recognition and appreciation throughout our society."
Less self-absorbed
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
For some young people, what happened six months ago on the other side of America has reshaped how they see themselves and the world. Some say they have become less self-absorbed, more thoughtful.
Iolani School senior Jasmine Nakagawa says that on Sept. 11 her paintings — whimsical till then — took on a deeper, darker tone.
Jasmine Nakagawa, an 18-year-old Iolani School senior, often portrayed her pre-Sept. 11 view of life through a pallet of bright colors. The characters she used to paint were usually fully formed as they leaped or sang across the canvas.
In the six months since, Nakagawa's view of herself and her world have changed. Her paintings took on a deeper, darker tone. She spread out bold words such as "FEAR" through her art. She depicted people as little more than black silhouettes.
Nakagawa said that from Sept. 11, "I didn't stop crying for three days." She fell into a funk that lasted nearly a month.
"I felt so bad for all of those people even though I didn't know any of them," Nakagawa said.
Her self-portraits became more introspective and their size shrank. She even took one drawing of herself, cut it up and pasted it to the canvas as a shattered image.
"Maybe I finally got it that the world doesn't revolve around me," Nakagawa said.
Nakagawa's paintings and drawings are like much of the work in Judi Wigren-Slack's art classes at Iolani that have taken on deeper meaning.
"The students seem to be thinking on different levels, other than pretty images," Wigren-Slack said. "I don't know if this is good, but I like them to be honest and paint what they're feeling, instead of just baskets full of kittens."
Christina Shoemaker decided it's time to get married.
Joshua Anaya said the national anthem needs more respect.
Alice Jolly said she won't be applying to colleges on the East Coast.
Christopher Leong said he still feels "a lingering sense of sadness and regret."
Alice Jolly, a 17-year-old senior at Iolani, decided against applying to East Coast colleges and no longer was interested in a college ROTC program.
Her classmate Joshua Anaya, 17, suddenly grew irritated at people who, during the national anthem, kept talking, eating or failed to take off their caps at his Iolani swim meets.
And his stance on the military changed.
"Before, I wasn't too gung ho," Joshua said. "I thought the military budget was too big. Now I think it's pretty good what they do."
Christopher Leong, 17, still feels "a lingering sense of sadness and regret. But in general, you tend to appreciate people more and have more appreciation for human life."
Taking that giant step
It's that kind of sentiment that has Christina Shoemaker on the verge of a new marriage.
She continues to see the after-effects of Sept. 11 through her work as a nutritionist and state breast-feeding specialist for the Women, Infants and Children program — and in her personal life.
"People have lost their jobs so, of course, we're busier," Shoemaker said. "We've had several people say they've never had to rely on a government handout before. They don't know how to sign up for food stamps and this or that."
A long-distance friendship of 13 years Shoemaker had with Eduardo Moreno grew closer during the summer. But Sept. 11 pushed Shoemaker and Moreno to decide to get married.
"It's one of those things where a tragedy happens and wakes you up a little bit," Shoemaker said.
Moreno gave notice at his Silicon Valley software job and worked his last day on Friday. He plans to fly to O'ahu on March 24 to begin his new life with Shoemaker and her 6-year-old son, Kai.
"9-11 made me realize that there are wonderful things in life that you have to take chances on," said Moreno, 42. "You cannot wait to do the things that you really want to do."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
