The Day Terror won!

   It was a day the world came to a standstill. A day when the world stopped and mourned as one. September 11 2011 will mark the tenth anniversary of what I like to call the day Terror won, or at least they thought they had. They struck a large blow and won for a day, but the human spirit is a very difficult thing to break and when events of this nature occur, and unfortunately they will continue to do so, our spirit will grow and somehow the light will shine again.

 
  Everyone has their memories of that day and I'd like to share mine with you, and although I was nowhere near New York at the time of the attack I saw first hand how people pull together in the face of adversity. At the time I was working for International Directory at Optus Communications and I usually did the 06:00 am start, and when I arrived to begin my shift that morning it was very apparent that something big had happened during the night. Normally at that hour of morning it was quiet and next to zero calls, but as soon as our bums hit our chairs we did not stop. Most of the calls were generated by people overcome with concern for relatives who happened to be in New York at the time. As the morning progressed everyone did whatever we could to connect people to loved ones who happened to be in Ground zero and the pure joy expressed whenever this was achieved was indescribable. Every one pitched in to help, to do whatever they could to combat the feeling of helplessness we all felt whenever we looked up at a television screen and saw what was unfolding before our eyes. People on annual leave and holidays gave up their time willingly and manned the phones to assist their under siege colleagues. My main memory of that day, however is that out of the calls we handled during that time not one contained a message of hate, they all messages of love and compassion. People willing to do whatever they could to help out fellow human beings who were at their lowest.
 
  So while Terror scored a hit on 9/11, the human spirit won out in the end and proved that if you kick us we'll simply get up and hobble on. This is how I remember 9/11, not for the actual event but how everyone pulled together in the aftermath. That is truly worth remembering and ultimately worth celebrating.