We're Going To Have To Deal With This For The Rest Of Our Lives

You don't have to believe it, but on July 20th, 1969, humans took a step on the moon. There is scientific evidence the prove it, samples brought back to confirm it, and hours upon hours of video, and film from still-photography from the moon. We just lost the first man to step on the moon, Neil Armstrong, to complications from heart surgery, but tell his friend Buzz that the moon landing was a hoax, and he'll punch you in the face. There are a gazillion ways to prove it, but for some reason, there still exist a sub-set of the population that still thinks that the United States Government is capable of keeping a secret for longer than five seconds. If you want to be that... diluted, I don't guess there's anything I can do about it but lead you to water in hopes that you switch to that from whatever Kool-Aid you're on.

But aside from what I guess I would classify as... passion?; there's really no harm in the Moon Hoax theories. Nobody died on the moon. Nobody died on the way there, or on the way back, though we did nearly lose a crew on Apollo 13, but that crew, at the moment is still alive. We must remember Grissom, Chaffee and White who were killed in an oxygen fire in their capsule during a dress rehearsal for the launch of Apollo 1, but they are rarely brought into the moon hoax discussions.

So, I was running through my Twitter timeline the other day, and someone was posting a conversation that they were having with a friend about the conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11th 2001 attacks on the WTC, the Pentagon and Flight 93, and it just plain angered me.

For every tragic event, the generation that experiences it, that event is cruelly burnt into their memory. My wife's Grandmother recalled not too long ago where she was and what she was doing when she heard the news that WWII was over. I bet she can give you even more detail about where she was on December 7th 1941.

I will forever remember exactly what I was doing, exactly where I was, and exactly what happened that morning. It only takes a moment of reflection for me to become enveloped in the pain and uncertainty of the day, and feel scared and isolated all over again, and I was on the West coast - nowhere near New York, and no one that I knew at the time were anywhere near New York that I knew of. I really didn't have any reason to be concerned for what was going on over there, other than the fact that I try to be a generally decent human being, and I kinda don't like it when tens--or hundreds of thousands of people lose their beloved mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, son, uncle, aunt, husband, wife or best friend. The fact that these people were simply removed from humanity in an instant is not something that should be made light of. Like in Star Wars when Ben Kenobi felt the pain of the people of Alderan crying out as their planet was destroyed, we all felt some sense of loss that day. We all know someone who was directly affected by the events of the day - someone who dropped their life to enlist in the military, or to go dig up rubble in New York. So, it makes no sense to me to mock this event with theories of conspiracy. It is insensitive, disrespectful, and inhumane.

But somewhere deep inside, I know that we're going to have to deal with this for the rest of our lives. There will always be someone, somewhere, that will find what they believe to be some nugget of truth in one of these fabrications because of their ignorance or some other infliction, and these ridiculous theories will somehow live on. If you are one of these people, and you want to live in denial, feel free; but do us all a favor, and for one day, put it to rest. You can have your arguments throughout the year if you so choose, but do this - on September 11th, simply remember. Be somber, and respectful of those who lost something that day. Have a moment of silence along with the decent people of the world, and remember the feelings of their families and friends - most of all, be respectful. Because no matter the reason, the loss is real, and it will forever hurt those that it has affected.

To not end this on a sour note, I thought it might be appropriate to share how I have chosen to remember since 2002:

It might help first, to know where I was and what I was doing. I was on my way to work from Rowland Heights to Glendale - I was on the 605N, just entering the transition road to the 210W. My routine was to listen to the local Alternative Rock radio station - 106.7 FM KROQ. That week, the personalities were on vacation, and they were re-running past shows. Their News man, Producer, and Showbiz reporter/man-at-hand were in studio to make sure everything ran smoothly, and they broke in on a commercial to inform their listeners what had happened, and what was happening.

Through Kevin and Bean weren't in the studio when it happened, on the anniversary, Kevin Ryder put together a clip montage to remember, and generously made it available for download to listeners. Since then, I have made it my memorial. Regardless of how I feel leading up to it, whenever I listen to it - well, it gets me every time.

I remember.

Do you?