When I think of something that has impacted my culture I immediately think of 9/11 and what 9/11 means to me. I was too young (sixth grade) to take in account if I ever really noticed the date 9/11 but I don’t think it meant anything to me. I doubt if that date meant anything to my parents or grandparents. However, now it means a great deal and I relate it to being a day of mourning/patriotic pride/remembrance. When I hear someone say “9/11” I think of the image of the plane hitting the buildings, images of firefights and ground zero come to mind. If the terrorist attack had never happened I would have a completely different outlook on the phrase “9/11”. As many of my peers say “Post 9/11” or “Before 9/11” it seemed to be the new hip way to date something—in replace of “B.C. or A.D.”
In retrospect hearing the phrase would have drastically changed in the event itself had not happened. However, visually seeing 9-11 or different variations of those numbers I would relate it back to the police. Since I was young in my elementary schools in the bathrooms and offices there were signs with a police officer and the phone number 911. This poster was to reassure a child to call for help if they needed it. 911 meant the police for me when I was it visually but it does not do that anymore. Instead when I see those numbers I think of current issues still affecting our country. I see the debates happening about the mosque being built at ground zero or the images of the terrorist attack that I remember watching on the news when I was younger. This symbol has changed drastically for me. Before the attack it meant help or police. Now post the attack it means controversial issues and a historically tragic date in American history.
I guess this isn’t a symbol or phrase that IF it had changed it would have revolutionized what I previously thought but it DID change over time. Not even over a long period of time but within a week of the attack 911 was not just a number to call for help or a day in September it was---An attack on my country, a date in history. As Crain says “the child is similarly the medium through which the alphabet permeates the culture” (pg. 56). I hate to be cliché but children are the future. As I said previously before a new phrase as come into popular slang. “Pre 9/11 or Post 9/11” when someone is trying to date something or call something old. I wonder if 911 will ever be strictly associated with the number for emergencies. I don’t believe it will. I think with it being used for slang and since it is still heavy in the media I would argue that generations after mine will associate that number sequence with the terrorist attack and the aftermath of it than a number to call in case of emergencies. Each generation has there own subculture, slang, trends and events that establish them. Mine I think has a small impact on American culture in regards to how the younger generation absorbs current events and how we speak about them.
There are some minimal connections to the prompt and the questions asked, here; see the models in the wrap-up blog post for how this question was best answered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your example about seeing the numbers 9 1 1 no matter how they are written, now bring up horrible memories of tragedy. But don't you feel that seeing it and hearing it may bring two different thoughts? For me it does. When I see the numbers 9 1 1, whether it is 911, 9/11, 9-1-1 or even Sept 9, I immediately think of the tragedy our country went through. But if you say "nine-one-one" I still think of a police officer or calling emergency services, I do not immediately think of the tragedy. However, if you say "nine-eleven" I automatically think of all the terror that happened and it gives me a very sad feeling. Prior to this tragic incident, I never though anything else of those numbers but to push those numbers on a dial in case of emergency. Maybe it's just me that feels this way, but thought I would share :)
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