From: SandyTesha@aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 01:34:28 EDT
Subject: Tuesday Sept 25 - flying over Manhattan

Hi all,

I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to drop a line to say I flew to
Savannah, GA on Thursday. LaGuardia was a ghost town - so few people, it was
weird!!! And both of my bags were checked at the security checkpoint; the
lady went through each and every pocket in my cosmetics bag, unzipping and
rifling through all of my eyeshadow, brushes, etc... and she found my
tweezers. Holding it up she said "You can't have this. I can check it for
you if you want , but you can't take it on the plane with you." It was a
cheap pair, so I parted with it (almost laughing as the image entered my mind
of my tweezers in a tiny baggy with a baggage ticket stapled to it, flying
over the top of the baggage carousel after the flight with the rest of the
"normal" luggage), and she added it to her box of tweezers, cuticle nippers,
fingernail clippers, scissors, razors, and sewing kits. She even asked me
if I had a razor, because you couldn't carry them on, to which I replied,
"Sh*t! I forgot my razor. Thanks, lady." (If I had packed one though, and
was a hijacker, does she really think I would tell her whether or not I
packed one?!?)

My flight only had 16 or so people on board. The flight was totally
uneventful. The weather was really overcast leaving so... no view of lower
Manhattan.

I was in Savannah for a wedding - it was great to celebrate and laugh for a
change. The wedding was beautiful. The people of Savannah were so kind and
sympathetic towards the 3 of us who made it down from Manhattan. I hadn't
shed a tear in 2 days when at the end of reception the band started playing
"New York, New York"... I grabbed the other two Manhattanites and we danced
and kick-lined and sang along at the top of our lungs, SO proud to be "New
Yorkers". Then they took one last request and someone yelled "something
patriotic!" and they started playing "America". I had to leave the dance
floor as I completely broke down and lost it! The emotions I'm feeling are
STILL so quick to change - sometimes I completely space out and forget what
happened, and then I look up at the big beautiful pouffy clouds in the sky
and like a slap in the face am reminded of the grey smoke and clouds that I
saw rising from lower Manhattan that day.

Coming back to LGA on Sunday the airports were definitely more crowded... I
had bought a razor in Savannah and it made it back to New York. The security
girls at the checkpoint in SAV were more interested in where I got my "cute
faux snakeskin bag and matching cosmetics case" than sharp object
Flying back we came up the East side of Manhattan over Queens, instead of
staying out in the Atlantic and looping up as I had expected, to avoid the
airspace near The Site Of The Incident. The weather was beautiful and I had
an excellent view (yes I asked for a window seat) of the New York harbor and
Jersey... I was completely disoriented though because I had no point of
reference... no towers to help me pick out exactly where Manhattan was. I
actually saw the tiny Statue of Liberty first, in the distance, before
realizing that we were THERE, and THAT was New York City. It didn't make any
sense. As we flew up towards LGA and got closer you could see the bridges
and the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building further up the island
... still wasn't right though. And the hole where the towers used to be...
it was still smoking slightly.

So anyhow. I hope to visit The Site again this week with friends who have
not yet been down there. And in other news, we're all hoping that Mayor G.
will stay in office after January 1st. Primaries are tomorrow, so it doesn't
really matter yet. It was him who pushed for term limits, but this is kindof
a special exception I think. BooBoo is doing well. My new roommate Michelle
is lovely. I have a booking and one audition today. The Packers won in
Monday Night Football. I'd like to say all is right with the world, but,
well, we all know that's not true at the moment.

A friend sent me this short quote that follows, and I must say I
wholeheartedly agree. Hope you all are well and safe.

Love,
Sandy

> > "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
> > begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing
> > evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you
> > cannot murder the lie, nor establish truth. Through violence you murder the
> > hater,but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
> > Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper
> > darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
> > only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do
> > that."
> >
> > Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
> >
>