WHERE WERE YOU SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Christian Times Magazine issue 63 | Monthly Magazine page 23

By Zernalyn Palmares

I was pounding my laptop furiously trying to hurry up and get notes done as I was meeting a deadline, you see this was my life- I was a Social Worker hamster. You know one of those , I shall save the world and make it a better place idealistic and naïve Dorothy ’s that land in Oz but in my case instead of finding the Tinman in search of his heart I was trying to help my clients find their sanity and sometimes bring them back to the land of the living . In the past year I was a Case Worker for

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Christian Times Magazine issue 63 | Monthly Magazine I was already listening to Marilyn who recounted to my co worker how she was so hurt that Elvis chose Priscila over her that she was planning on shooting him while he was on the commode , to Kennie telling our nurse who was getting ready to give him his shot which he calls his booty juice, explaining to her that he was a bit confused as to who came first the Romans or the Egyptians ( I do think this is his version of who comes first- the chicken or the egg ) .

He asks because he claims he was abandoned and never recognized as the brother of Jesus. He was oblivious to the fact that the gnats that were flying on top of his head that has not been washed since the dawn of time and his malodorous person was making me lather my nose with Vicks mentholated rub more frequently than I usually do . As I pounded with frantic pace , an office peer thinking it funny was reading out a joke loudly….

“This is the latest transcript from the answering service that needs to be installed at our clinic. If you are obsessive compulsive press 1 repeatedly, if you are co dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you , if you have multiple personalities press 3,4,5 and 6, if you are paranoid we know who you are and what you want . Stay on the line so we can trace your call, if you are delusional press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship . If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press. If you are depressive , it does not matter. If you are dyslexic press 969696969696, if you have a nervous disorder please fidget with the hash key until a representative can get to you , if you have amnesia please state your last name, mothers maiden name, fathers date of birth, your social security number and date of birth. If you are bipolar leave a message after the beep, before the beep, or after both beeps . Please wait for the beep. If you have short term memory loss press 9 , if you have short term memory loss press 9, if you have short term memory loss press 9. If you have low self esteem , hang up. Operators are too busy to talk to you ” .

Then all of a sudden our receptionist turns on the television set and another client comes flying in to the room screaming “It’s war, it’s war. America has been attacked” . I stood up as I heard wailing, sniffles and moans. The tension in the room was evident as we all looked at each other,… ” what is this ? what is happening?” Who would have the audacity to come into American soil and declare war. America was the strongest country in the world, some of the clients were asking for Superman to make it all go away. I reached out for the hand of my supervisor and asked her what to do , “are we safe, it’s in New York but what if planes come flying out to Texas… our clients” . I never

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Christian Times Magazine issue 63 | Monthly Magazine page 25

knew this yet but this was a turning moment in my life in my journey as a Christian ( but that’s another story for another day ) , you see Melanie Heard my Supervisor was a saved Christian . She looked at me smiled and said , we pray.

That day in our small little office that was what we did. Hands clutched tight together we prayed the Lords Prayer , as Caseworkers and clients we came together in our helplessness to do what we knew to do , we reached out to God to keep us safe as we watched the developments of the day . We prayed for the rescue workers , those trapped, the people jumping out of buildings, those that fought the terrorists. We prayed loudly, silently . We had little left but our faith. A faith born out of desperation and uncertainty . A collective faith of a people looking for answers.

Days after the bombings when Americans came together in a sense of patriotism . At that moment America , home of the free, land of the brave became a nation under one God.

A year later I was talking to a client and during the memorial service that we watched on the television as I was counting medications with him he said something that to this day I always remember. “ America and the founding fathers believed in God and that’s why when people say the pledge of allegiance he is mentioned, when people forget that then watch it . This may happen again” .

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