Fresh off the practice court in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, where I was playing in a tennis tournament, I walked into the club
restaurant and a couple of my Dutch friends told me that two planes had crashed
into the World Trade Center in New York. My first response was, "Don't
even joke about that." But, of course, it was true and we all spent the
rest of the day watching CNN International as the horrific scene unfolded.
Most of the players and tournament staff had a look of shock for the rest
of that day, but we Americans were walking around in an absolute daze. I
called the American Embassy to see if we needed to try and get out of that
region, but they reassured me that there was no need to leave immediately.
In fact, I was amazed at how calm and normal it was in Uzbekistan after
the attack; it was a strange feeling as I knew that back home life as I had
always known it had changed.
An Israeli management group runs the tournament in Tashkent, so there were plenty of people around who could empathize with what we were going through. While the staff canceled anything extraneous associated with the event such as player parties or appearances, we kept right on playing as that is what they have come to do in Israel after living with terrorism in their country for it's entire existence. I plan to follow the example of the Israelis and continue to live my life as I had prior to 9/11/01, but to do so with an added sense of caution and alertness. I will continue to travel around the world playing tournaments, but will steer clear of events in the Middle East. Everyone will have to decide what is best for themselves as this war on terror unfolds, but as the President has been saying, we need to get back to normal as soon as possible to let them know that their tactics will not work. I left Tashkent which is a mere two hour drive from the Afghanistan border for Shanghai two days after the bombing. While my family and friends were very concerned about me being out of the country at this time, I assured them that Communist China had to be about the safest place for an American, ironically enough. From there, I continued on to Hong Kong and Tokyo and in all three places received sympathy from the local people when they found out I was an American. I even had a spirited conversation with a cab driver in Shanghai (in my best Chinese) who was illustrating with hand gestures what the US was going to do to Afghanistan. Life in these places carried on mostly as usual; the only place I noticed heightened security was in Hong Kong where they confiscated a little scissors that I use to cut the string out of my tennis rackets. I felt guilty that while life was carrying on as normal for me out of the US, it was chaos in the States and especially in New York where I had been just four days before the attack. I was heartened by the spirit that my country was showing in the face of adversity and was eager to get back. My Asian swing came to an end and I flew into O'Hare from Tokyo. I had no problem changing the date on my unchangeable ticket which is a sign of how accommodating the airlines have become. I immediately noticed the increased police and military presence in the International terminal and also the fact that the crowds were much lighter than normal. No matter the changes, it was great to be back. In closing, my deepest condolences to anyone reading this who has lost a family member or friend in this tragedy. Unfortunately, this will be a long campaign against terror and most likely a costly one. Some of the rest of the world may think we are soft and not willing to see this conflict to the end, but I believe we are at our best in times of crisis and will succeed. ~ Jack |