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I was a freshman in college running from one class to another when the first incident occurred. It wasn't until later that night that I realized what had happened from family. All I could think of was how senseless these hijackers were; I was frustrated trying to understand why they would have done such a thing.
I think that America, as a whole, lost what innocence we had left that day. Prior to September 11, I had spent an entire summer with my oldest sister and brother in law in Germany, exposing myself to the world and gaining an appreciation of how other cultures viewed us. I loved the open interaction that their Spangdahlem air force base had with the local community. There were no fences preventing Germans from mingling on base, we just respected each others space.
Post-9/11, I again visited my sister for winter break and was saddened to new level of airport security and that the entire was base surrounded by a huge gate telling the world to stay out. The open mindedness that personified us prior to the attacks was gone. Heck, the whole world was now close minded and different.
Now 30 years old, I too have become close minded and selfish because of the fact that I have no desire to see us go to war with Syria. I consider myself a humanitarian at heart, I know that there are injured, suffering people half a world away, and that we are suppose to be the 'big brother' of the world but I just want us to focus on us for a while.
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