Too Soon?

Balki reflects on 9/11:

It seemed a violation of everything that his adopted home country stood for. Disbelief had gripped his family, and so together they sat in a huddled mass, trying to figure out what in the world had happened.

Two planes and two towers.... hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

His first instinct was to get on the phone...try to track down his cousin. Four hours spent clinging to the phone, trying to get through to the newspaper. It was supposed to be his day off; the baby's birthday.

Finally, he reached his Cousin Larry, who promptly announced he was going to New York to cover the situation. He was incensed; New York was far too dangerous! He could be killed; what would he tell Jennifer if he died? But his cousin insisted...even after Balki used his most pleading voice.

One year later, they stood in their communal yard, children and parents united in singing the national anthem, candles in their hands. Over the year, in the courage of the many who worked in New York, and even in that of his own cousin, Balki had come to understand what it was to be an American; to be really, truly, free.

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And as a fitting end to your 9/11 meditations, go out and rent The Aristocrats (2005).


Credit: Jason