Yahoo! is asking Americans how September 11 changed them. Below is an account from a reader.
When the events of September 11, 2001, started to unravel, I was actually still at home getting ready for work, and having my morning coffee. I had just started a job at a local day care center only the day before, and I was the teacher in the kindergarten class.
I had to go get the kids from school and take them back to the center but I couldn’t take my eyes off the TV screen. My husband and I watched in disbelief while we listened to the news reports that day. Our phone started ringing as our friends started to call that day making sure that we knew of the tragedy. After I went to work that day, I had to explain to the children in my care who had seen news reports at school. It wasn’t an easy task, but one I tried to handle delicately. Most of the children in my care had come from different backgrounds, countries, and some had never seen such an act of what I considered to be hate.
I since have not had to explain such things. I didn’t know anyone who was directly involved in the attacks; however, I have had many family members and friends who had joined the military and many served time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three of our friends went to the battlefield and did not come back. Through all of that, we spent many days watching the children of our friend cry for their fathers who, too, had lost their lives over a senseless act. We have supported the military every step along the way and continue to do so.
[Your story: How has September 11 changed you?]
I feel that because of the events of September 11, 2001, our economy is shot, unemployment is at a record high, and gas, food and medical-care prices have risen. I, too, am unemployed. I have a new baby, and downsizing seems to be a way of life. We had to move to an apartment that charges less for rent, we eat cheaper meals, going out to eat is a thing of the past, and going to the doctor is a luxury.
We have insurance, but even with the insurance, our bills are phenomenal, and all I did was have a baby. It seems as though if you make more than $10 an hour that you are not considered poor enough for financial assistance, not even food stamps. Even the food banks are not fairing as well as once before. I have a friend, for instance, whose husband makes $12 per hour and even though they have four children, he still makes one hundred dollars too much for them to get food help.
I believe that if the job market were better there wouldn’t be so many people looking for financial assistance to help them pay for the necessities. If the health care costs came down, there wouldn’t be so many people facing bankruptcy because they cannot pay for the medical care they need. And if the government was not having to help so many people, it could use the money it would spend on such things as food stamps and financial assistance that they could use the money to help the country to get out of debt. All of this leaves those of us who have small children wondering what kind of world our small children will be living in, in the coming years.