memories of them bad days

$50.50 will buy you:


Tickets to the Shanghai Ballet's performance of "Coppelia," the Venice Baroque Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the London City Opera's "Madame Butterfly," and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.


I don't think I could have spent a better $50. Maybe on charity, I suppose, but... sometimes, you have to buy roses with the bread.


Today, with 9/11 coming up, I've been thinking about the one aspect that I've never been able to handle.


The people jumping. When I first heard about it, it was literally too big a concept to comprehend. Into thin air, you place your foot because the other alternative is to burn or be forever vaporized in the New York skyline. You place your foot in the air, hold someone's hand, and try to fly for a moment.


I heard once that chances are, you'd be dead before you hit the ground due to the shock of the descent.


I heard that people were holding hands on the way down.


I heard that jumping is actually the healthiest psychological response to the situation. The people who jumped knew their options, weighed their options, and decided that they wanted to leave a recognizable body for their families. (Strangely enough, this has happened before, and sometimes, they survive.)


They were holding hands. They must have been scared, and still they were trying to do what they could for each other.