what's your addiction?

I read an article today that listed the top 10 socially acceptable addictions. 

#10 - Netflix, et al; the whole binge watching thing

#9 - video games; no surprise there

#8 - porn; it's an easy thing to access because it's so available on the internet 

#7 - work; seriously?! I guess if  you really love what you do...

#6 - shopping; oh, you mean like buying ALL the pens?!!!! ooops

#5 - gambling

#4 - Social media; I see this everyday. Social media is a time thief

#3 - alcohol; you would be surprised how many functional alcoholics there are

#2 - sugar; !!!! oh man. I guess for me it's the sugar that comes from carbs. Boy is that hard to quit!

#1 - Caffeine; not just coffee, tea or soda either. It's all those energy drinks. Really bad for your health.

What your parents share

Did you know, you get your ability to lose weight from your mom? 

But, how easily you gain weight is something you get from your dad's side.

Your ability to focus, or lack thereof, is because of your mom's genes.

If you hit puberty early, that's your dad's fault.

How well you age and how much you show it come from genes you only get from your mom.

Also, your mood(iness) is more likely to be passed down from mothers to daughters. 

The sex of your children comes from your dad's genes.

The genetic risk of Alzheimer's comes from your mother.

A woman's fertility is inherited from her father.

And debunking an old myth, your hairline is determined by both your parents, not just your mom's!

Cha cha changes....

This is such an interesting article about today's workforce!  I know I mention the workforce a lot, but it's part of my working life so it's interesting to me.

‘Older generations are so confused': This young woman on TikTok says Gen Z, Millennials don't share the same work ethic as Boomers — 3 reasons why she might be onto something

Story by Vishesh Raisinghani   

Generational grumbles are as old as time itself. There’s probably a cave painting about how the younger generation ruined the hunter-gatherering economy with their “fancy agriculture.” Since then, every successive generation has found a new medium to express their disappointment with "them young’uns." 

One recent example comes from the comment section on TikTok, which recently erupted when a young lady explained why Gen Z and millennials don’t exactly share the same values when it comes to work.

“Older generations are so confused about why we don’t want to work hard anymore or prioritize our careers,” Demi Kotsoris says in the clip. “We know how short life is now.”

Kotsoris goes on to explain that the pandemic and greater access to information have reshaped the perspective of younger generations and made them question whether work should be the center of their lives.

Of course, the response was heated. “This mindset is so [‘you only live once’] that you will regret those decisions later,” reads one comment on Kotsoris’ video.

“People are just SELFISH & LAZY NOW,” says another.

But the replies may have missed the point of the video. Here’s why Kotsoris’ message resonates with so many younger workers and why her experience highlights some deeper truths about modern work.

Work isn’t as rewarding anymore

For baby boomers coming up, there were clear rewards for working hard. Putting in an average amount of effort allowed a typical worker to buy a nice home, raise children comfortably and travel the world. In the 1980s, the average home price was just four or five times the median income. Now it’s closer to 7.5 times.

Having a college degree was also far more rare in the 1980s. Now, nearly everyone on the job market has a degree, eroding that edge for workers. Meanwhile, the dollar has been eroded too. Wages haven’t kept up with inflation for decades, so an hour of work today isn’t worth as much as an hour of work in the '80s.

Upward mobility also saw a decline. A person born in a middle-class family in the 1940s was 93% likely to outearn their parents by the age of 30. For those born in the 1990s, that rate is just 45%.

Some boomers could beat the odds and create generational wealth by investing in stocks. However, even that's not as easy as it used to be. The S&P 500 was trading at around 10 times its earnings during the 1980s. It’s now trading in the low-20s.

The relationship with employers has changed

The employee-employer relationship has also changed since the '80s. Defined-benefit pension plans are nearly extinct. A major corporation that went public before the 1970s was 92% likely to survive the next five years. By the early 2000s, that rate had dropped to 63%.

Unions have also declined, which means workers now have far less bargaining power than their parents did.

All these factors have made younger workers question the value of company loyalty and lifelong careers.

The pandemic altered perspective

The global pandemic may also have shifted work culture for everyone, not just younger employees.

The crisis triggered a retirement boom. And at the same time, younger workers saw how short life can be, and how easily their lifestyle can be disrupted by a global crisis like a pandemic or climate change. A study by Deloitte found that Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to prioritize work-life balance, flexible work arrangements and purposeful work.

The pandemic highlighted that remote work is a viable option for many companies. In fact, a survey by Buffer found that 98% of remote workers would like to continue working remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers.  

Hell

I keep seeing this headline..."A guy says he had a heart attack and went to hell. Here's what he saw."

I finally caved and read it. 👀 It turned out to be one of the best laughs I've had in weeks. Here is the link to the article;

A Guy Says He Had a Heart Attack and Went to Hell in 2016. Here's What He Saw. (msn.com)

Now, I don't want poo poo his experience, and it does sound pretty horrific. But here's the thing, the "guy" is a priest. Toward the end of the article the priest says his hellacious near death experience made him realize he needed to forgive people who had wronged him, instead of hoping for their punishment.

Ummm, seriously?! You're a freakin priest and you were hoping for people to be punished? Yeah, there's a reason you went to hell, dumbass.

Protecting LGBTQ rights?

Earlier this week, the LGBTQ community, (well, mostly teachers who had the day off) showed up at our Statehouse to protest our version of the "Don't Say Gay" law in Florida. Here, they call it, the Slate of Hate bill. The digest of the bill says;

Sexual orientation and gender identity instruction. Provides that a school, an employee or staff member of a school, or a third party vendor used by a school to provide instruction may not provide any instruction to a student in kindergarten through grade 3, including a presentation, in which the goal or purpose of the instruction is to study, explore, or inform students about: gender fluidity; gender roles; gender stereotypes; gender identity; gender expression; sexual orientation. Defines "school" for purposes of this provision.

Honestly, if I had a child in kindergarten, I don't want some teacher with an agenda, talking to my FIVE year old about sex or gender identity. Geesh. 

Some of the comments on Twitter were so stupid.

"if you don't agree with this bill you are normalizing pedophilia!"

 "So what's next? Book burning, start concentration camps for people who are different then you?" "so if my daughter tells her 1st grade teacher that she has 2 mommies, what is that teacher going to say?"

Some people said, during the hearing, that this bill would prevent kids of LGBTQ parents from being able to talk about her family at school. Really? Is that what the bill says??? Come on.

After the initial reading in the House, some amendments were made. Instead of saying sexual orientation or gender identity, they amended it to 'human sexuality.' Another amendment was to require a parent at the beginning of the school year to give written consent if a child is going to use a different name other than their legal name.

What does that mean? Boy, they better be specific because lots of kids have nicknames or short names that don't even look like their legal name. People, people, people.

Why don't they just say, you can't teach sex ed earlier than 4th grade. Isn't that what they really mean? I don't know. There are so many other BIGGER issues in this state. 

...speaking of how much is enough...

MIT says the living wage in 2022 before taxes for a family of 4 in the U.S. is $104,077 a year. That's a livable wage. The lowest is $88,720, in Texas and the highest is $147,248 in San Jose.

In my hometown, the living wage for 2 adults, no children, are as follows;

Food - $7,352

Medical - $6,655

Housing - $9,634

Transportation - $9,634

Civic - $5,878

Other - $8,394

Required income after taxes - $47,678

It's a little curious that transportation and housing are the same. And that seems pretty low for housing. Maybe they aren't including property tax and insurance. Also, I think we spend more than that on food, annually. My fella and I are doing pretty good considering one of us is already retired.

You can go here, https://livingwage.mit.edu/ to find yours.

It's interesting.

Your dead body

What a gruesome thought; what's going to happen to your dead body??

Eaten by wild animals at the bottom of the cliff you fell off of while trying to take the perfect selfie? Nibbled to the bone by the fishes you were forced to sleep with. Blown to bits and pieces in a war torn country. 

Or, if you could choose, will you be buried? Cremated? Well there's a new choice on the horizon!

https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-aaaeb36ffd4a43ea&q=1&e=42856d72-930f-4ba1-9c64-e9eedad02b90&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcnb.cx%2F3lIpYf7

I don't know how I feel about this. It makes sense but it goes against traditions. Where will the proof be, that you existed? You would just be a story. Oh! This is SO WEIRD! 

as the year ends...

...it's time again for lists! I love lists. I make lists all the time!

I'm always surprised when I see the list of "celebrities" that died. I've forgotten 1/2 of them. 

Sidney Poitier, Loretta Lynn, Bob Saget, Naomi Judd, Angela Lansbury, Kirstie Alley, Ray Liotta, Sally Kellerman, Anne Heche, Ralph Emery, Meat Loaf, Louie Anderson, Howard Hesseman, Betty Davis, William Hurt, Estelle Harris, Bobby Rydell, Gilbert Gottfried, Mickey Gilley, James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Olivia Newton John, Coolio, Robbie Coltrane, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gallagher, Irene Cara, Christine McVie, . See what I mean? 

The top searches in Google were;
Wordle, Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth, Johnny Depp, and The World Cup

The top news stories of the year were;
Omicron and living with Covid. 
Russia invades Ukraine. 
January 6th
Oil prices, inflation hits a 40 year high and the Fed raising rates.
Texas school shooter kills 21.
Roe v. Wade is overturned. 

Boris Johnson resigns. maybe he'll have time to comb his hair now
The Webb Space telescope captures thousands of galaxies in it's 1st color image.
A new Alzheimer's drug shows promise
Hurricane Ian
Midterm elections
The Queen dies
Kroger buys Albertsons
Elon Musk acquires Twitter
Protests in China against the  zero-tolerance approach to Covid
The latest big winter storm!

The highest grossing movies of the year;

#1 Top  Gun: Maverick

#2 Wakanda Forever

#3 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022;
#1 As It Was, Harry Styles
#2 Peru, Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran
#3 Bad Habits, Ed Sheeran

Top Country songs;

#1 Gospel Night at the Strip Club,  Ashley McBryde

#2 Something in the Orange, Zach Bryan

#3 Outrunnin' Your Memory, Luke Combs

Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are the biggest music artists but the highest grossing touring artist of 2022 is Bad Bunny. 

Man am I getting old!!!!

America's #1 drink is....bottled water! The most popular liquor is Whiskey, with Vodka a close second. 

American's spend more on fast food than groceries. The top 3 fast food joints are;

McDonald's, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A. But if you don't want to count Starbucks, #3 would be Taco Bell.

The best selling books of 2022;

#5 Ugly Love, Colleen Hoover

#4 It Starts With Us, Colleen Hoover

#3 Where The Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens

#2 Verity, Colleen Hoover

#1 It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover

At Amazon, their best sellers in their respective categories are;

ThisWorx car Vacuum

Stanley IceFlow stainles steel tumbler

Echo Dot 3rd generation

Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp and Hair Strengthening Oil

Crocs Unisex clogs

Fire HD 8 tablet

Left Center Right dice game

Earth Rated dog poop bags

Atomic Habits, by James Clear

Amazon Basics lightweight super soft easy care bed sheets

The most significant science stories;

#1 the James Webb Space Telescope send back mind-bending images.

#2 and eruption in Tonga creates shock waves

#3 Omicron spikes

#4 NASA crashed a $300 million spacecraft into an asteroid and proves it could save the 

     world

#5 Climate protests escalate

Most popular dog breeds;

#1 Golden retriever - duh

#2 French bulldog

#3 Labradoodle

...and, Meow;

#1 American Shorthair

#2 Ragdoll

#3 Maine Coon

Top baby names of the year? 

HIS                        HERS

Liam                      Olivia

Noah                     Emma

Oliver                    Amelia

Lists are fun.

Complaining

I just want to complain today. Right after that lovely thankful/grateful post too. Sorry. 

First, are you sick of the term, gaslighting? It's this year's word of the year. Do you know what gaslighting is? According to the Newport Institute, gaslighting is a form of manipulation where the manipulator attempts make their victim believe what's happing to them isn't actually happening and their reality is untrue. These are some examples:

*Telling you that you're overreacting when you call them out.

*Changing the subject or refusing to listen when confronted about a lie or other gaslighting behavior.

*Lying about or denying something and refusing to admit the lie even when you show them proof. 

I don't why this is new. People have been manipulating other people for hundreds of years.

Next up, why are designers and ad executives trying to convince women it's ok to be sexy after 50. We know that already. Honestly, why do you still want to be all sexed up after 50? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with looking good when you're old, but sexy? Sexy looks a helluva lot different on a 70 year old than a 20 year old. Stop it. Just wear what you want to! Geez. I mean really. Is a sixty year old man the same horn dog he was at 20? No. Should a 55 year old woman be trying to look sexy for 25 year old man? No. I just want to be comfortable. 

Also, on a side note, young women should stop saying they're dressing to look sexy for themselves. What a bunch of bs that is. ALSO...designers need to stop trying to sell booty shorts and crop tops to 10 year olds. Seriously. Why isn't the "me too" movement pissed off about sexualizing children?! Hmmmm. Ugh.

Lastly, a recent Gallup poll says U.S. Adults Estimate That 25% of Americans Are Gay or Lesbian. I was a little taken aback by that. It seems like a lot, doesn't it? Then I read the article. It's actually all about perceptions. Americans perceive that there are a lot more gay people then there really are. It's estimated that it's probably closer to 6 to 8%.The US Census says that only 13.6% of the population is black. So, Americans think there are more gay people than black people? Perception. 

inflation

Did you know, on average, Americans are paying $700+ more, per month, than they were paying last year?!?!?!?!?  Think about that. It's costing $700 more a month to live. Thankfully, I don't have to drive into work everyday so I don't notice the pinch regarding gas. But, food? Wow. Just for the two of us, we're spending at least $300 more a month on food. Because the value of our home has risen dramatically in the last year, our property taxes have gone up. To meet that difference in our escrow account, our mortgage payment is a $100 more a month! For us, there's $400 bucks right there! That's a lot. What are people doing to get by? I mean, 20 years if we would've had to spend that much more, our kids would've been hungry. They/us would've done without a lot of things. That's crazy.  

does anything change?

Today, in the wake of death, what change is needed? 

I read the text of the President's speech yesterday. I listened briefly to the news this morning. It's the same old talk. Same old words. Common sense gun laws are needed. What are those? Because that's not going to matter. Restrictions are needed. What kind of restrictions? Do you want to ban assault weapons? What exactly are those? Be specific. Then, do it. Both sides, make compromises if you have to. Get it done. But don't be vague. Don't be lazy. Stand up to whoever you need to. Good grief. Stop saying the same old things. If you want to ban assault rifles, do it. It won't be the first time. If you can show people that it'll make a difference, then show them, prove it. But if you're lazy, and you're true concern is the power you yield as a legislator, then just shut up and sit there. Stop blaming. Stop pointing fingers. But if you believe it's for the good of the people, then just do it. Isn't that your job? Go ahead, give it a try!

But, when you've done that, then you better be ready to address the real problems. You better be ready to discuss and fix the problems in this country that have led us to where we are today. Because taking aspirin for a fever, only makes the fever disappear, not the flu itself. Same things apply to the people. Stop being lazy. Go ahead, give it a try! 

Do YOU think that will happen? Ever? Politicians...media...religion...

Whatever happened to just doing the right thing? Looking out for each other. Being kind and helpful. Thinking about others before yourself? 

The Oscars

Did you watch the Academy Awards?

I didn't. Not because I haven't seen any of the movies. I saw 1/2 of them. But because I got tired of being held captive while people who think they're better than me tried to force me to listen to their opinions - about politics/social injustice/war, etc. Meh. I go to or watch movies for entertainment. That's not to say that occasionally I don't watch those "based on a true story" movies. But even then, unless it's a real documentary, it's still acted out.

Anyway. I read last week that viewership of the Oscars last year was down almost 75%. WOW! Well...there was a pandemic. Not a lot of movies were made. Not a lot of theaters showed those movies, so, duh. I guess they were hoping to bring people back in. Now, all that being said, what do you think about the slap seen 'round the world?! Was that real or staged? I mean, that seems pretty out of character for Will Smith. And Chris Rock handled it remarkably well. Hmmmm. 

If it wasn't staged and it was a real moment, (brought to you by actors) why is it so hard to believe? Because they're actors? Because you think Will Smith is a nice guy? Or is it because of our fake culture? Shouldn't we be more concerned that if it was real, we aren't appalled at the violent outburst?

I personally think almost everything in reality tv, is scripted. And I don't bat an eye anymore when an entertainer lip syncs a live performance. Marketing execs used to at least try and make you believe in the illusion. Now, everyone knows that pictures are photo shopped and air brushed. Everyone knows that a Whopper will NEVER look like that one in the commercial!! And still, we accept that. There have been tv programs that show you how it's done. No secrets. People will call out obvious photo shopped mistakes on social media. It's so crazy!

It all seems pretty coincidental, doesn't it?

I'm SO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Time!!!

Senate passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent!

It's time again!

You know...it happened again...changed my clocks. Ok, well I didn't actually change any of them. They all changed magically, by themselves :-) Except for the one in my car, which I don't ever change anyway because it's so complicated! I did see this year though that there is more talk about ditching the change! You know I'm all for that!!!

https://indyscootergirl.blogspot.com/2021/11/tell-me-again-what-time-is-it.html

what's next?!?!?!

-Inflation, that's what! And I'm not just talking about the price of a used car or a new home or an extra buck at the gas pump either.

You know, for the last 6 weeks or so, our grocery bill has been about $40 to $50 more. We do a full shopping every couple of weeks and fill in where necessary. As the bill has gotten higher, I've thought to myself, we're so fortunate that we can afford this increase. But last week, it really slammed  into me!! We went to the store for "some" things. We did buy a couple things we don't usually but we didn't buy any meat, and very little produce. Anyway....$151.00. OMG! It literally made me feel nauseous. $151!!!!!! Holy smokes. Then, this morning, my fella put 3/4 of a tank a gas in my car and it was $60.00. Thank heavens for teleworking. It's only 2 days a week but it's going to make a big difference. When he told me that, how much it cost, my first thought was, lots of people won't be able to afford to go to work! How freaking absurd is that?!?!?! 

I don't know how this can go much further. Some prognosticators are pretty confident that we'll see $6 + a gallon for gas. It's pretty close to that in some states already. 

I suspect Aldi and Walmart will become a lot busier. There will be less vacation travel for sure. The world we live in right now seems so precarious, in so many ways. It makes me sad.

guns and death

Yesterday, a landmark, historic settlement was made by the gun manufacturer, Remington. In a suit claiming that the gun manufacturer is responsible for a massacre/mass shooting, it settled out of court for $73 million dollars.

It's a slippery slope, isn't it? No matter what side of the issue you're on. I've had several questions, as a casual news reader. One is, why did they settle instead of go to trial? Did they think they would lose? Did they settle because if they lost it would set a precedent, which would be bad for other gun manufacturers. Now that they've reached a settlement out of court will other gun manufacturers be targeted? The other thing that was really curious to me was, even though this was "breaking news" when it happened, I couldn't find a single headline about it in any news outlet that was in even the top 10! USA Today, Fox News, NY Times, MSN...The way the media covers anything about guns and gun control and the 2nd amendment is so aggressive, I just don't understand why they didn't have a million words to say about this?!!?

Gun related deaths in the US topped 45,000 during the pandemic. (There was a spike in homicides.) Is that a moral issue or a gun issue?

I didn't/don't follow this case but I gathered that part of the suit against them was how they market their firearms. That made me wonder, why is it ok for Anheuser-Busch to market (target) a young audience?

Did you know, drunk drivers cause more than one third of all traffic related deaths. Alcohol related deaths, ie excessive alcohol use, is responsible for more than 95,000 deaths each year. Who is responsible? The drunk driver, the bartender who served them, the alcohol maker, the store they purchased that alcohol from?

According to CDC statistics, drug overdoses  accounted for over 91,000 deaths. Is that a health issue or a big pharma issue? What about the doctors that prescribe the drugs?

Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause 480,000 deaths annually. 

Where is the outrage, exactly??

Pandemic life...lingering

This is a good article about the 40 hr/5 day a week work week. How it started, where it's going.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/04/1043145165/four-day-work-week

I'm not that person anymore, who works 40 hrs and comes home and does a second shift, but I can sure appreciate what that means and can remember how hard that was. I can certainly remember when just one extra day off during the week, to myself, was a godsend.  And practically yesterday, I was teleworking 2 days a week and it was awesome! In SO many ways. Less commuter stress; less commuter time - an hour and a half to two hours a day; less gas in the car - = more $$ for me and cleaner air for the world!; more sleep; less $$ on lunches, shoes, clothing; better working conditions - temperature control, clean bathroom, no idle chatter from people I don't care about; AND more time with the love of my life. I mean, even though we didn't interact so much while I was busy, I was there when he wanted to ask me something or just talk to me for a minute. There's a lot to be said for teleworking and/or a shorter workweek. The pandemic brought that to light.

Along those lines, here's another good article about workers not putting up with crappy jobs anymore!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/30/during-great-resignation-workers-refuse-accept-unacceptable/

Also brought about by the pandemic. Interesting to think that we're being forced into less consumerism - by worker shortages and inflation. Will that last? Will it ever be the same as it was in 2019? Or will we adjust to the "new normal?"

And this is a great article about the labor shortage;

https://www.wsj.com/articles/labor-shortage-missing-workers-jobs-pay-raises-economy-11634224519

4.3 million people quit their jobs las August. There were a myriad of reasons. In general, people should be talking about this and how it's going to affect all of us. I'm hopeful.

...speaking of Facebook

 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not a newsy. But I see the headlines. I hear the news bites on the radio. Sometimes in the morning, I listen to talk radio - briefly. So I think I have the basics about the FB "whistle blower."

I agree that FB, or social media in general, is harmful to kids and a lot of adults. But most of that conversation is something different than what the whistle blower is talking about. She says, FB is dangerous....duh. She says that the FB mentality is all about the bottom line....duh, aren't all big businesses like that? Liquor is bad for minors but there are still ads on TV that would make a young person believe that in  order to be cool, you have to drink Bud Light, (or whatever). There are things I like about social media. There are things I don't. But I do believe that they should be held accountable in some way. FB is too big to be reigned in now. People can complain that ads are targeting young people. But how can FB possibly know if a 10 year didn't lie about their age? Please. I lied about my birthday. Be realistic. FB will say though, parents should pay more attention to what their kids are doing online. That's true. But even the best parents don't know everything their kids are doing online. And if you give a 10 year old a smart phone without parental controls, well....I guess everyone should be accountable?

I understand that some small changes could make a big difference though. But it would affect their revenue and bottom line. Mark Zuckerberg is the 5th richest person in the world. At the detriment of society, does he need to be? I don't believe in all censorship though. And social media is part of the global culture now. 

I guess we'll figure it out.

Social media

Were you affected by the Instagram/Facebook outage yesterday? Did you survive?!

Do you follow a lot of people/businesses on either of those? I don't have that many FB friends so it didn't really bother me too much. I sure didn't miss all the ads though! I did, however, miss my stuff on Instagram. Again, I don't have hardly any friends on Instagram but I follow a lot of quilling people, good news pages, animal/dogs pages, crafty stuff.  

Honestly, I had no idea it was so stressful to SO MANY people!! Wow. I mean, I know there are a lot of people that base their whole day on what's on social media, but really??? Holy smokes!

There should be more outages :-) Even if they're planned. You know, like when the kids were little, we had "no TV" nights. I loved those. Everyone always found other things to do. Imagine that. No, really, imagine. hahahaha

I see so much good in the internet. I also see much I don't want to see. How do you create a balance?  

9/11

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I remember thinking, this is our generation's December 7th. I can read everything about December 7th, 1941, but I will never truly understand how that felt. I can read interviews with survivors and people who were there, but I will never really know what it was like for them. People will ask for many years to come, where were you on that Tuesday morning? What were you doing? Just like they still ask, what were you doing when you heard Kennedy had been shot. 

So, what were you doing, 20 years ago today? I was getting ready for work and I came downstairs and somebody had left the tv on. There was breaking news about an airplane that had hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. I was just getting ready to walk out the door, but I stopped. It was so weird. What? An airplane? Wow! How awful! Those poor people, omg. As they were talking about it, another plane came into view and flew right into the 2nd tower. Oh Shit. Now it's something completely different and everyone knew it. In that second, everyone knew that this was intentional. How can that be??? What??? Terrorist attacks in the US??  Two decades is a long time in the world of technology and media. Still, millions of people witnessed the second plane crashing into the south tower, live. It was a defining moment as people around the world experienced the events as they unfolded.  I still had to go to work though, I was late. I only worked a few minutes away from home. When I got there I immediately pulled up the news on my computer. It was hard to get into any website because everyone was trying to do the same thing and the internet was still pretty new for the general population. By then, Flight 77 had crashed into the Pentagon. There was complete chaos everywhere. The newscasters didn't even know what to say so they were saying anything. Flights were being grounded, ordered to land and not taking off at all. Schools were sending students home. We had a television in the breakroom at work and there were a couple dozen people in there, watching. I remember hearing everyone in the breakroom yell out when the first tower collapsed and run out to tell everyone in the building. I cried. I was just extraordinarily sad. I guess it was probably a little out of fear too. Fear of the unknown. What could happen. But mostly it was sadness. My heart was breaking for all those people left behind. Minutes later, another plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Flight 93.

Information, misinformation, opinions, facts flooded the airwaves...for days...weeks. You couldn't turn it off. It felt disrespectful to not watch. I remember after about a week, one night my stepdaughter came into our bedroom after dinner and I had the TV on, the news of course, and she said, can we just watch a movie? For just a moment, I was so angry at her! I paused. Then I realized, she's 17. There's still life out there. And I said, yes, we can watch a movie. You pick it. She chose The Sound of Music. It was perfect. After that, I tried not to have the news on all the time. The evening news was enough.

On September 20th, President George W Bush addressed the nation in what was truly the perfect speech for a country yearning for comfort. Honestly, it didn't even matter what party you were, you loved this speech;

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html

We adjusted. We made compromises. We connected with other people. We grieved. We moved on.

We've never been the same though.