Where Are You Now?

As I was making reservations for a business trip this week I realized that I needed to fly on Sunday in order to be at the appointed destination for a Monday morning meeting.  This is not at all unusual as I frequently will travel the day before a meeting or appointment.  This reduces my anxiety over delays, and assures that I will get a good night’s sleep and be productive during my appointment.  When making the reservations I noticed that Sunday was September 11.  I hesitated for a moment asking myself if I really wanted to fly on this date.  

As things turned out for me my trip ultimately was cancelled and I have no need to fly on September 11.  Still, just the thought of flying on that date took me back to the tragedy of 9/11/01.  Like most Americans I can remember vividly where I was when the first plane hit the World Trade Center tower.  As the morning wore on and yet another plane hit the tower, I began to also hear the news of a plane in Pennsylvania that was possibly hijacked about an hour from my home in Pittsburgh.  

On 9/11/01 I was the Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority.  My immediate superior, as well as the majority of our executive staff were in Washington, D.C. that morning attending a meeting at HUD, near the Pentagon which also became the site of another plane crash.  In the midst of the shock and devastation of the people around me during those critical moments, I suddenly realized that I was responsible for an agency of 500 employees, and that we managed housing for about 5,000 people in Pittsburgh.  Given the information available, I needed to make a number of decisions that were likely to be second guessed later, but were yet important to make immediately.

I began the decision making process by contacting each of my available co-workers.  This included our Operations Director, HR Manager, and Police Chief.  We decided that we needed to assure the security and safety of our residential communities and Hi-rise buildings which housed the elderly and disabled.  At the same time we needed to act with compassion towards our employees who were concerned about children in school, and their own families.  We decided that all employees that were non-essential to the security of our communities could leave work immediately to look after their families.  Essential personnel and a small group of volunteers agreed to continue working until we knew for certain that our communities were safe and secure.  As I looked out the windows of our offices I could see the motion and panic of people below emptying out of nearby office buildings and heading for home.  I knew that we were facing a long day when many of us might not get to go home for a while.  

As I now look back on that day I recognize that Pittsburgh escaped tragedy.  We did not experience problems in our communities, and our buildings were spared from disaster.  The lessons of that day however caused our own agency and many others to begin to prepare plans for future disasters.  We had a heightened focus on the fact that low probability incidents of drastic proportion do still happen every day.  We all spent the next several days experiencing a swelling sense of nationalism, and everyone in the country seemed to pull together.  

Just four years later America finds itself facing yet another disaster.  Once again America finds itself questioning whether or not we were prepared for the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina.  There is massive finger pointing and political posturing to heap blame for everything from the speed of the relief response, to the lack of availability of $2,000 debit cards for the purchase of essentials.  Perhaps as many as half a million people are suffering today because of the hurricane.  All across the country we are all affected by rising gasoline prices, and threats of fuel prices for heating rising as much as seventy percent.  

We have very short memories in this country.  We forget the commitments we make when we are under duress.  We utter prayers at moments of disaster or despair and we make promises to our God in exchange for mercy.  We pull close to loved ones; we cherish the small things in life, and we all understand that we are in many ways spared just by grace.  All of this fades as we move further in time from the latest disaster, or when we realize that the latest event did not really affect our own lives.  

As I write this I sit comfortably in my office in my home.  I will spend my day developing business relationships, scheduling appointments and travel for upcoming events, and waiting for my children to return from school to begin the weekend.  As I write this there are families that are living in shelters with no hope of returning to their homes.  There are perhaps thousands of children that have no school to attend for whom the weekend is just another day in an impoverished life.  And there are thousands more that have lost jobs, careers, and businesses.  

As you take the time to read this I would ask you to think about a question.  Where are you now?  You are probably reading this in your office.  This of course means that you have a job today.  If you are reading this in your home, you have electricity and even a computer.  Where were you four years ago during 9/11?  What changes did you vow to make in your life on that day?  Have you kept your promises?  Did you realize on 9/11 how important your family is to you?  Do you live today like that is still true?  As you watched families walking through flooded streets in Louisiana did you stop to acknowledge that you were safe and dry?  

In the past four years my life has continued to change dramatically.  I am no longer the COO of that agency I managed in 2001.  I work now as a consultant helping people and organizations understand the importance of authenticity, values and character.  I teach clients about valuing people and serving those that they lead.  I can’t say that all of this happened because of 9/11.  But I know that the events of that day changed me in a way.  I was reminded recently of those changes as I planned a simple business trip that was later cancelled.  Now I have another chance to sit back and reassess my own priorities.  I have the time once again to make sure that I am living my values.  And most importantly, I will say a prayer of thanks that once again disaster has struck and yet those that I love are safe and secure.  It is my sincere hope that as you read this you too will take stock with where you are now and where you have been in these past four years.