A Complicated Image

So the President has announced that Osama bin Laden is dead. A mission carried out by US special forces has decapitated al Qaeda. I absorbed this somewhat unexpected and stunning news throughout the day here in Shanghai. The announcement came at 11:30AM over here during a holiday so I had a chance to watch the news coverage, analysis and reactions from around the world.

Much has taken place in my life since that fateful day nearly 10 years ago. I was working in downtown Manhattan that morning about 1/2 mile away from the WTC. It was a harrowing experience but thankfully nobody I knew was killed in the disaster.

Life has moved on for me in the past 10 years. I have left that stressful job with the investment bank in downtown Manhattan, went backpacking in Asia for 6 months, moved out to Shanghai for the past few years and this year welcomed my daughter into the world. Life has moved on for sure.

There was coverage on the news of the celebrations back in the US and special attention was given to Washington DC and New York City. There was pure joy, as if one of the local sports teams had just won the Championships. I almost have the feeling that the people celebrating in that way were not from Washington or New York City. And many were relatively young. I find it troubling to celebrate in this fashion as if this was some kind of sporting event. The event that took place is real life, not a game. It's a reflection of the conflicts and struggles of society and life in general. In many ways all of this is a reflection of ourselves, the human race. It is a complicated image and I don't believe it warrents such an absolute reaction.

I personally feel happy that justice was served, but on the other hand it brings back all of the memories of that fateful day. I also feel that in the near future there could be retaliatory measures as I don't think this will end terroism. It also brings to the surface once again that perhaps there are things that we are doing as a nation that brings out such contmept for us in many parts of the world.

I think this is all part of getting older and wiser. Perhaps this is probably why I rarely see older people react as absolutely as the youth. I guess ignorance is indeed bliss.