When I heard America had attacked Iraq, the first thing I did was call my mother. Then, I grabbed my pen and notebook to write about local reactions to the news.
At 8:45 p.m., the ASU campus was dead. I didn't see more than three people walking around the entire half-hour I was looking for my big story.
I then proceeded to walk around downtown Tempe for over an hour, visiting a mosque, two churches and Mill Avenue. What I found was unbelievable.
What I found was nothing.
Couples walked hand in hand, partiers relaxed at all the popular bars with drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces, cars filled with drunken males peeled out of parking lots and honked at passing girls. But nobody was talking about war.
While U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the first attacks and troops engaged in the first major missile fire in Baghdad, Tempeans spent Wednesday night reveling in their alcohol and sexuality.
In other words, it was business as usual Wednesday night.
This is exactly the kind of attitude that enrages people in the Middle East who hate Americans.
There, children in Israel are going to school with not only backpacks, but gas masks. Many countries are used to daily bombings and the imminent air of death. Iraqis live every day under the unforgiving and severe regime of Saddam Hussein. They now with the threat of death from American attacks.
And in Tempe...business as usual.
The shear apathy of Tempeans and America in general will never discontinue to astonish me.
It isn't necessary for everyone to stay at home, mourning for the suffering of millions of people thousands of miles away. But when war breaks out, one would think at least a candlelight vigil, a protest, or even conversations about the war would break out as soon as the news does.
But I guess America would not be America without its impenetrable apathy. Even after Sept. 11, Americans have not changed the way they live. They may be a little more paranoid, a little more fearful, but overall, there have not been any dramatic changes in the way they live. Case in point, the apathetic reaction to the war.
What exactly will it take for Americans to perk up their ears and actually care about the war? For those without loved ones involved with the war, and for those who do not have direct involvement in it, it will probably take an extreme loss of American lives.
The terror attacks on Sept. 11 took out more than 3,000 Americans. Maybe next time, when the number is significantly higher, say...three million, apathy will no longer exist. That is one sad price to pay for people to start caring.
So, my proposition: Get out there and speak your mind. Instead of going to see the latest romantic comedy, go to Hayden Lawn and scream in protest, yell in support, cry with frustration, whatever you feel. But please, do not proceed with the apathy that contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks, and ultimately, the war now taking place in Iraq.
Amanda Lee Myers is the Editor-in-Chief of the Web Devil. Reach her at amanda.l.myers@asu.edu.
