Strange thoughts on 9/11

It's a strange thought that in an explosion clothes and people are equally reduced to dust. Today my class and I were shown a largely unaccessible footage of 9/11. Witnessing disaster always makes you think. This video even more so. Maybe because it was closer to what the New Yorkers might have seen on the day than any other.

There was a particular close up of one of the towers from which some people were seen stepping out of the windows. One of them is in flames, or clearly struggling with some burning object or jacket.

It is painfully real yet I can't help thinking about the apocalyptic end of Fight Club. I am witnessing the destruction of the financial centre of the Big Apple. That was a day when the Fight Club cynical humour was appropriate. I am sure women did not bother taking off their heel shoes before running for their lives (as they suggest you do on airplane security drawings). You just run the best you can in such a case - heels or no heels, pain or no pain. Not that many people managed to reach an exit, other than the windows.

From the ground around the World Trade Centers the commotion is increasing. People are gaping at the towers, too shocked to know what to do. It is a bit like an erupting volcano: a disaster too overwhelming to comprehend. I am still overwhelmed every time I see a video of 9/11.

It is not long before the first Tower falls crumbling to its base. Its Twin follows and leaves the site in clouds of smoke and dust. The volcano has erupted. Two of the tallest buildings in America have disappeared within minutes.

The most uncomfortable feeling I have is to know that the people I saw stepping out of the windows, probably some 80 something floors above ground, never escaped.

We then see clouds of dust. People running from the tsunami of smoke. Smoke under which were buried thousands of people and tens of thousands of clothes and shoes when we think about it.

I can't stop wondering though if even in the apex of disaster we don't cling to stupid little things like a watch, a necklace or a pair of shoes. Maybe more victims than we think died with a fashion item or accessory in hand simply because it had a particular significance to them.

It doesn't make any of this less terrible but it's nice to know small things can bring even mild comfort at the worst of times. Who said you can't walk through Heaven and Hell clutching your favourite handbag!