Christian Scherer's digital pictures
Christian Scherer's digital pictures
URL : http://www.ensmp.net
Password : alex/2001/09/17
Alex's
Album
Shoulder to shoulder
From: Alexandre Scherer <alexscherer.geo@yahoo.com>
Subject: Monday, September 17, 2001
Dear Family, dear Friends: I got to the office today at 10am. I took the bus m15 down to Houston street and skated from there on my roller blades down to 199 Water Street. There were 2 soldiers at the corner of every block of Water Street. They had helmets but no machine guns. They were checking IDs at the reception. This is the first time my ID is checked (apart from JFK custom) since I came to America. I went up to the 21st floor, said hello to Alicia, the receptionist and rushed directly into my office. There were two messages with good news from Christiane and Edith, two colleagues. I helped myself some coffee and started chatting with the few people who were there. I heard some terrible stories, which I will not tell as they are everywhere in the media. People are very calm and spend a great deal of effort listening to one each other. I believe everybody is going his own pace in order to deal with the consequences of this tragedy. The situation is specific for each of us so just listening is probably the best way to avoid hurting anyone's feeling. The network was down so I decided to place some calls to Europe and put some order in my office. I had a quick lunch with Jerome, another French guy of the company. Our usual plots were closed so we ended up in a sort of saloon (like in western movies) inside the fish market. We had a burger and a Coors beer. On one of the walls, two guys were painting big letters which say "They can break our hearts but not our resolve". We were watching CNN and the stock exchange markets. The market is down today by about 7% with record volumes. Back in the office, someone told us that we should leave and come back Wednesday because they were not finished with security checks in the building. I put my roller blades on, took John Street and headed west toward the World Trade Center. It was not possible to go beyond Nassau Street. They are many power generators in the streets. It was noisy. I then was in China Town. On Chatham Square, I saw buddhist monks mourning. I also saw flyers with pictures of missing people. One was reading "Mother of six". I am ashamed I did not memorize her name. There is still no foreign newspapers. I watched a speech of Pres Bush on CNN. The speech was delivered from a Washington mosquee. What Pres Bush said is of special importance to me. Here is a part of the speech: QUOTE The face of terrorist is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace, they represent evil and war. When we think of Islam, we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race, out of every race. America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. The Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads, and they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect. Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear covering must not be intimidated in America. That's not the America I know; that's not the America I value. The face of terrorist is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace, they represent evil and war. When we think of Islam, we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race, out of every race. America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. The Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads, and they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect. Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear covering must not be intimidated in America. That's not the America I know; that's not the America I value. UNQUOTE I told Francoise about this speech and I could see a big relief on her face. Cecile had to deal with a backlog of work so she came back late from the office. I took care of the girls and put them to bed before her mother arrived. They are fine. They said on TV that Pres Chirac will fly in to Washington tomorrow to meet Pres Bush. Pres Chirac will then go to the Big Apple on Wednesday to meet New Yorkers. Prime Minister Blair will come on Thursday.France and England are mentioned as USA close allies. Voices are also raising that USA should collaborate more with Russia and generally speaking all countries having an interest in fighting terrorist activities. I will try see Pres Chirac when he comes to NY. CNN also reported, terrorists may have the technology to make chemical and bacteriological weapons. This is really scary. I wonder if we should take this seriously or if it is a form of propaganda in order to scare the countries which have expressed so far only timid support to coalition against terrorism. With love Alexandre Mobile Number : 1 (646) 752 3510 Personal Web Site : www.geocities.com/alexscherer.geo
