One Thing I Remember.

We were at work. We soon left to watch the coverage.

We saw all the reports everyone saw. The policemen, the firefighters, the EMTs all acting heroically. The dribble of information, the endless speculation. Then the sickening collapse of the buildings.
We also saw this but really only briefly and just, it seemed once and there was then and has been since, very little comment. From all over Manhattan a stream of hundreds of guys in jeans, tee shirts, tool belts and work boots carrying five-gallon buckets with hammers and pry bars and other assorted hand tools walking to the scene. I imagine a lot of them had lottery tickets in their pockets. No one summoned them. No one dispatched them. They weren’t going there to sightsee or report back to anyone. Just a bunch of guys whose day to day job involved seeing something needing done and just doing it. Just do it.
The day was spent in individual acts of heroism. I’ve always been disappointed these particular acts of heroism have been so little mentioned. In so many ways these guys are the backbone and sinew of America. You can deal in high concept and design. You can survey and draft all you want. Sooner or later somebody has to drive the nail, mix the concrete or lay the brick. Hell, someone has to kiln the brick then stack it and deliver it where it’s needed. For every designer, architect or engineer there are a thousand highly skilled people who have to do their job properly to keep those designers, architects and engineers employed. An architect will say, “ I employ a thousand people.” Not really. A thousand people keep the architect employed. It’s an unfair image but I’m always reminded of Governor LePetomane shuffling papers and saying, “ We have to protect our phoney-baloney jobs gentlemen.” (Blazing Saddles)
I guess my point is there are seen and unseen strata in our society more than we notice. We notice uniforms and other trappings but we don’t notice ubiquitous tool belts or work boots. They are seen as a dismissable label or badge. The commentators that morning while looking for heroism didn’t recognize that heroism because it wasn’t properly dressed. That’s a shame and a mistake. These guys were heroes because they knew what to do and when to do it. They turned to.
At the seventh inning of ballgames, they perform “God Bless America”. I certainly would prefer a country that knew if they were going to pick a song they should be performing “ This Land is Your Land”. We made this land for you and me.