It is not foreign terrorists who invaded the US Capitol, corrupted democracy, attacked the press, blocked voting, tried to install an unelected autocrat, attacked public health, imposed punishments with religious zealotry against women, or damaged the rule of law.
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Never Forget

Some of the things I witnessed in New York 20 years ago during that awful September week are seared in my memory and I’ll never forget. (See  9/11)

The disbelief and horror as we watched TV news clips of a plane hitting the south tower of the World Trade Center,  then the tower in flames,  and then another plane hitting the north tower.

And a friend’s brother who worked blocks from the towers telling us later that he saw the jumpers with his own eyes.

And a man selling American flags from the back of a pickup truck on an eerily quiet East 86th Street.

And the smell of smoke that lingered in the air for days,  even in my uptown neighborhood 10 miles from Ground Zero.

And the prayer meeting at our synagogue when a sobbing friend rose to speak about his childhood friend who died on the hijacked plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

And days later when the games resumed at Yankee Stadium,  pledging to the flag from the stands,  and watching President Bush throw out the first ball.

And later in the week when Lincoln Center reopened,  the City Opera conductor asking the audience to rise and then leading us in God Bless America.   And all of us singing a cappella through our tears along with the costumed cast standing up on the stage in front of the curtain.

Then the orchestra played the overture,   the curtain went up,  and the opera began.  And for the first time since that awful Tuesday morning I felt hopeful there would be better days ahead.

– Dana Susan Lehrman

That really impressed the neighbors!
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The Parking Lot Seniority List

For many years until I retired I worked as the librarian at Jane Addams,   a small,  inner-city vocational high school in the infamous south Bronx.   True,  the neighborhood was sketchy,   and the local bank where many of us cashed our monthly paychecks was robbed a couple of times,  but our school was an oasis in the asphalt jungle.   We had a wonderful and dedicated faculty,  and in general our students were good kids who wanted nothing more than to succeed.  (See Magazines for the Principal,  The Diary of a Young Girl,  Mr October,  Going Back to Work)

Street parking near the school was hard to find,  so at some point,  well before my time,  the schoolyard was designated as the faculty parking lot.   Lines were painted,  spaces were numbered,  and because there were always more drivers than allotted spaces,  a seniority list was created.

Faculty and staff were listed chronologically by the date they began working at the school,  with a formula to adjust for leaves of absence.   And administrators and deans who had to be at school early,  and basketball coaches and counselors who had to stay late,  were given preference.   And assigning spaces to folks in carpools required another special formula.

The teachers union rep even got involved to vet the constitutionality of the whole thing,  and so you can see it was a very important school-wide issue.

Our faculty was close-knit,  many life-long friendships were forged there,  and we usually shared each other’s joys and sorrows.   And so when one of us retired,  there was sure to be a grand celebration.

And when an upcoming retirement was announced the word spread quickly so that even before congratulations were given,  or party-planning begun,   the newer faculty members would high-tail it to the principal’s office.

Then the school secretary would take out that very important Parking Lot Seniority List so they could see who was the lucky one next in line for that about-to-be available,  highly coveted parking space!

– Dana Susan Lehrman