My Friends and I, A Post 9/11 World

I feel that I will never truly understand all of the effects September 11th 2001 had on my generation. I can't talk about my loss of freedom or liberty or the "tight security" the government seems to run on our lives. I will never know how my life was changed by that day because I don't remember life before it. My parents remember walking up to the terminal gate to meet loved ones. They remember taking any size liquid on the plane. My parents remember when it was a rare occurrence to see an individual person pulled out of line at security or at the terminals. I don't remember any of this. Even though I can't compare my life before 9/11 and my life after 9/11, my generation will be some of the last children to remember the tragedy of 9/11. We don't remember life before its effects but we know our parents lives were changed forever. One thing that my generation seems to have, because of 9/11, that our parents do not, is a low tolerance for those different from ourselves. We think its natural to automatically assume someone from Middle Eastern descent could have terrorist relations. The fear and suspicion we have towards those we think may be a national threat has been natural to us our entire lives. For my parents, this feeling of suspicion and vulnerability is brought on by fear of a repeat 9/11 massacre, their feelings post 9/11 unlike ours are not natural. To my generation, and the generations after us, we will have a hereditary fear of terrorism. When my mother was a child her generation worried about nuclear war. My generation fears terrorism. Maybe my generation is de-sensitized to the feelings of others in a way that we can't control. Many of us assume that it should be no inconvenience for a person, suspected of committing a crime that hasn't happened yet, to be pulled out of line for the sake of everyone's safety. My generation looks at profiling as a matter of security and safety and protecting what's ours. Rarely have I seen the people around me stop and consider the feelings of those we so blatantly mistrust. To many of us, national security is of the upmost importance, because we have been raised with the belief that there will always be a hidden enemy. That is the impact that 9/11 has left on us. The belief that we can never trust our government will do their job fully, or that our nation will be safe from those who want to hurt it. My generation will always fear the hidden enemy within our country. My generation will never truly understand the effects of September 11th 2001 even though we were alive during its terror. It is the effect that it had on older generations that has changed our lives forever.