Mike Nalepa
Memo on changes

Most people I’ve talked to say that things are different now. They don’t seem to be able to quantify it or label it, but there seems to be this overwhelming sense that things have changed.

- Marriages are up on military bases, and dating services have been reporting an increase in people using their services.

- Have more people been going to religious services? Conversely, has donation to religious institutions dropped like it has for other non-profits as people send money to the relief agencies instead?

- Are people working less or more? Are they concerned with spending more time with family or worried about putting in extra time to keep their job? (A man who was running for the Palo Alto City Council dropped out of the race, saying that his job was requiring him to work more and that he also wanted to spend more time with his family.)

- More people are unemployed now, and the numbers seem to keep rising. (Highest level since 1992) Bush is extending the amount of time people out of work can receive aid. Is this changing the way we look at welfare?

- CEO’s of some airlines are forfeiting their pay for the rest of the year in order to save some jobs from being cut. Likewise, GM and Chrysler are offering 0% APR until the end of October to urge people to buy cars, and they say, to boost the economy. Both of these moves favor the consumer and employee over the shareholder and CEO.

- Commercials have changed. Many are patriotic, few are funny, and a lot of them center on unity. Some of these are also public service announcements, urging people to give blood, financial support, or to just to embrace unity.

- Sports have slipped in importance. The baseball playoffs are around the corner, and 9,000 people came to a Yankee’s game a few days ago. Football season is in full swing and basketball training camp just started. Somehow, people don’t seem too concerned. Michael Jordan returned to basketball, but I bet a lot of people didn’t even notice.

- Are any bay-area non-profits in trouble? Non-profits in other parts of the country are seeing less money come in as people donate to relief organizations.

- Flags are still everywhere. They are on car antennas, Major League Baseball hats and uniforms, houses, stores, the coffee shop in front of the library. In many places, people have hung them off of overpasses.

- CNN noticed that more people were getting tattoos.

- People flocked to donate blood. The Red Cross is running ads to keep people donating, and it would be interesting to see if more people continue to donate blood in the future.

- A poster store I went into a few weeks ago was sold out of panoramic posters of the NY skyline with the towers in it. They had backordered about 14 at that point.

- Some stewardesses are learning kickboxing, some pilots want to carry guns or stun-guns, and some people are still afraid to fly. Airports are extremely different. Police patrol the parking garages, National Guardsmen are inside the airport, you need a paper ticket to enter the terminal, and you can’t bring nail clippers on board.

- Speech isn’t as free as it used to be. Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect, said that the US’s act of bombing with missiles was cowardly, and that a suicide mission was not, got him into a heap of trouble. Some advertisers pulled their commercials, and Bush’s press secretary said that the country didn’t need that kind of talk right now. A month ago, a statement like Maher’s would have been ignored.

- In addition, many people say that they would waive their civil liberties in favor of safety. Usually, we protect these rights at all cost.

- Criticism of Bush is almost non-existent, and his approval ratings are way up.

- Protests are taking place against military action. In the days following the attack, pacifists were hard to come by.

- Celebrity coverage seems to be down. Jennifer Lopez got married this week, but the story was largely ignored.

- Are more people joining the armed forces? Are more people moving to Canada?

That’s still not it, though. It’s hard to even put into words what is going on. A loss of innocence comes to mind, but that’s not even all of it. You would have to include a loss of security, ignorance and nonchalance. And you would have to include an increase in pride and unity (with the exceptions of some eruptions of anger against innocent people by those who haven’t quite lost all of their ignorance).

But something has changed. Some day, my children will open up their history books, and the beginning of one of the last chapters will have a picture of the WTC burning on the first page.

I’m scared of what else that chapter will say.

I think the most striking change, though, will be the date itself. It’s hard to think that September 11 will ever be just another day ever again. Like December 7 and July 4, the meaning is forever changed.