Anniversaries of Big Events

1) I was so busy on Sunday & Monday, that only now I'm posting comments about the sad events 4 years ago - the 9/11 attacks.

You can check my past posts to find out what I think about the politics surrounding 9/11 and the War on Terror.

I want to talk about my experiences on that day 9/11/01.At the time, I was a college student living in the dorms at UH-Manoa. Being that I was in Hawaii, I was sleeping when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon got hit.

I first found out about it when my mom called me at 5:45. She mentioned that the World Trade Center blew up. At the moment, I was thinking it would've been similar to the bombing that occured in the World Trade Center in 1993.

Only when I listened to the radio (the TV in my dorm room was screwed up at the time), when I found out it was actually airplanes that hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

Later that morning, I was in the cafeteria, when a student was concerned that a class I had with him was going to be cancelled. He also fear that Pearl Harbor might get hit again.

I had 2 classes that day. In the 1st class, the professor mentioned about the 9/11 attacks, then went on with the lesson of the day. I think it was the appropriate way to deal with it. Acknowledge what happen, but don't let it stop everything.

The 2nd class that day, the teacher just cut it short.

Ironically, that afternoon, it was the 1st day I was working at one of the dorm's front desk. Very hectic day.

I had a gut feeling that day, that it was probably Islamic fanatics mad at US foreign policy. I was right. But in the months that followed, I became more patriotic and more supportive on the War on Terror.

3 days after the 9/11 attacks, I was hanging out with a long-time friend. We were talking about the week's events, plus all the racist hate crimes committed against Arab Americans occuring in the mainland. Then the friend said that I better shave (at that point I didn't shave for a whole week) or someone might look at me the wrong way. (Though I am Latino, some have said I look like I'm from the Middle East, especially if I didn't shave) Needless to say, I shaved my face that night (though I kept my infamous mustache).

2) 9/11/1992 was when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai. At the time, I was in the 6th grade. All day long I was so scared that the hurricane would hit Oahu. My older relatives had to tell me to calm down.

Fortunately for me, Iniki didn't hit Oahu. Unfortunately, Kauai was devastated. My father, who was a construction worker, helped out with Kauai's recovery by renovating many buildings. I even visited him there one time.

After the recent hurricane in Louisiana, I asked my dad about his work in Kauai. I asked if there was looting in Kauai after Iniki. My dad said he heard of none, and that there was a lot of sharing going on between the island residents.

3) Today 9/13/05 is the 9th anniversary of the death of Tupac Shakur aka 2pac.

I was in the 10th grade attending McKinley High School. On that day's afternoon (ironically it was Friday the 13th), I was home. My brother came by and told me about 2pac's death.

2pac was shot several days earlier. It wasn't the 1st time 2pac was shot, so I was expecting another recovery for 2pac. Unfortunately, this time around 2pac didn't recover.

I was already a fan of 2pac's music before his death, but I gained a greater respect for the man afterwards. For the next few years, I really studied all the biographies of 2pac. I learned that 2pac was once a good student who enjoyed poetry and literature. However, other kids thought he was soft, so 2pac became more aggressive to show them that he wasn't soft.

Now 2pac is respected by many hard-core gangstas. I still hear his music being played by loud car stereos. Though 2pac songs were mostly concerned with the African-American community, his music is loved by people of all races.

2pac has many critics but he is already a legend on the level of Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain.