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Blog Entry 44 of 44 Welcome to The Retroplex
I'm usually in full-blown reminisce mode anyway, so why not make the rest of you poor saps suffer along with me, right?

Here, you'll find no shortage (well...unless I can't think of any new material) of meaningless but ultimately harmless bits of ephemera covering the past 20 or so years of pop culture, and my occasional interactions with it. Whether you're into the iconic or the ironic, sooner or later, I'll probably get around to it.
Watch, as the hilarity ensues! Or, if you prefer, gawk like a shocked passerby witnessing a horrible accident!

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~TheRetroplex

Seven Years Ago

Article Contributed on: 9/11/2008 11:42:24 AM

It was probably about 7:30 in the morning, and I was in bed. I was unemployed, and none too happy about it. I saw no real reason to force myself to rise from the cozy bed where I lay with my thoughts, fears, and general feelings of failure as a husband.

When the dot-com bubble popped, I was one of the folks tossed into the air by the blast. My company - a video streaming and webconferencing outfit in the Boulder area - had decided to axe its entire streaming division, where I had worked as Project Manager for the previous 18 months or so. Loved that job.

Luckily, just two weeks later, I had been able to land another position with a streaming media startup that both bumped up my salary, and was located much closer to home. There, I'd worked for four relatively uneventful months. Unfortunately, around that time, it became clear that no one outside of the porn industry was making money off of streaming video. As such, the company's CEO - in New Jersey - had decided that the organization would reverse its long-standing policy of not working with adult material. As the company's Account Manager, I would therefore have been required to work with both the material itself, and the producers who created it.

There was no way I could justify my continued employment with this company, and turned in my resignation, despite an hour-long call with the CEO, asking me to reconsider.

I felt good about that decision - right up until the point that I discovered that jobs don't usually come around every two weeks.

On September 11th, I had been out of work for four months. I was consumed with myself, and generally sure that the world was out to get me. Where was my God? I had resigned, rather than compromise my integrity, and this was the thanks I got?

And then, my sister called. "A plane just hit the World Trade Center", she said. I ventured downstairs, flipped on the set, and watched in horror as a second plane sliced through the previously unscathed second tower. I dropped to the couch as a the ball of jet fuel and debris exploded from the mortally wounded building.

My own hardship was then revealed to be utterly insignificant at that moment, as pure, unfettered evil danced on the static-filled screen in our living room. The world has wobbled a bit ever since.

May God bring peace to those thousands who lost so much that day.

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Showing 1-5 of 5 comments
Gladys Mercier wrote on 11/11/2008 @ 7:43:26 PM

Integrity is worth more than money. Hope God has given you a much better job by now.
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Nikki Britain wrote on 10/22/2008 @ 7:44:03 AM

Thanks for this.
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Barbara Neff wrote on 9/25/2008 @ 7:59:48 PM

That morning I had not turned on TV or radio. I opened an email, instead, from a dear friend with "This is really, really bad" in the subject line. I could not believe what I was reading and immediately turned on TV news. I'll never forget that day. Who could? Thanks, Jared.
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Michael Rule wrote on 9/12/2008 @ 7:40:18 AM

Well done. There are moments in time we all remember 9/11 is certainly one of those.
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Katherine Jerome wrote on 9/11/2008 @ 3:03:03 PM

Well said Jared. I had been off work for several months, recovering from a car accident; and also feeling sorry for myself that morning. Seeing the images of the WTC brought me to a new reality, and elevated my perspective to heights unlike any other experience. I pray for those in mourning, and hope that we all take the time to make our own space in this world better for all of those around us. I applaud your decision to maintain your integrity. Our world could use more people like you!
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Showing 1-5 of 5 comments