Gifts Given, Curiosity!

As I slouch toward 94 I feel an urge to write again of Gifts Given.

It is Sept.10th 2000. Kate and I are readying ourselves for a highly anticipated trip to London. We were excited to see Shakespeare at the Globe Theater. Then on Sept. 11th our plans together with the World Trade Center disappear in a cloud of dust, We are pinned to the sky and the Tele watching these 100 story buildings collapse like something built out of a bunch of pick up sticks. It is impossible to grasp the reality of all those lives lost in the unfolding catastrophe.

As we sit in horror and listen to all the blah blah blah about who plotted it and who did it I was nagged by a fundamentally different question. Why did these buildings collapse like a house of cards and result in all those horrible deaths? Did the terrorists know that the Twin towers would dissolve into the biggest ruble, dust pile ever? I very much doubt it. So, what caused that to happen and who might be responsible?

Curiosity, simply would not let me sleep until I found an answer. Here’s what I found. 1. The Twin Towers were built during the Nelson Rockefeller Governorship of New York. (2. They was a slop to the Building Trades Unions. Their vote was essential to his election.) 3. The Twin Towers were designed by a Japanese architect Minouri Yamasaki maybe he was ignorant of New York City building codes. Built by the Port of New York and New Jersey Authority. 4.Therefor they were not built according to the Construction Code of the City of New York. 5 THOSE 110 Floors WERE HUNG ON THE OUTSIDE WALLS WITH WITH ABSOLUTELY NO INTERIOR SUPPORT.

6. Firefighters long ago learned of the dangers of floor suspension on outside walls. In a fire the heat pushes those walls out and down come the floors. That’s a Crypt for any firemen, or anyone else caught between floors. New York City building code requires internal support columns. Why were there none? Because that left more open space to rent.Make ,More money.

Case in point. By sheer accident in 1945 a WW2 Bomber smashed into the 75th floor of the Empire State building. Damage? Of course strictly to the floor where it hit. Why because the Empire State buildings floors do not hang on the outside walls. It has interior support columns as do all the skyscrapers in the city.

This was quite a different take on the tragedy of Sept. 11th. It wasn’t just the terrorists who had caused those buildings to collapse it was also the negligence of the builders. And of course why did the FBI or the CIA do nothing about a group of foreigners who were training to fly airplanes but not land and takeoff? Having gone through flight training all I did was land and takeoff what seemed like hundreds of times in order to be certified. Bureaucratic hang-ups or the inability to ask WHY WHY WHY? That’s all part of the tragedy of 9/11.

As a very young child I was being taught the importance of “Questioning Authority” starting with. “But The Emperor is Naked.” Too “why did all those founding fathers own Slaves at the same rime that they were championing the idea of freedom? Holding a nickel in his hand papa would ask “who is this God that we trust? If you find him you can keep the nickel.” Thanks pap

Everything that struck my eye that I didn’t understand had to be learned, How was the subway built and what made it run meant hundreds of rides up in the front train looking out at the tracks and asking a friendly trainmen how the brakes made it stop. And of course the magic of those giant electric motors that run it. Every bit of it had to be learned. That burning curiosity I believe is the most important trait for serious learning.

According to my Papa, the first step is the ability to doubt even in the place of universal acceptance. Like saying “The Pledge of Allegiance” in Public School. That was my Papa's first lesson in being able to stand alone for what you did not believe. The second lesson had to do with what was the role of that pledge and why was it being taught? Ahaa conformity! Essential to get everyone to believe and CONFORM a fundamental requirement for all who rule. Thank you papa.

Those were the hard parts. The fun part came with all those wonderful discoveries at the Museum of Science and Industry that was on the 4th and 5th floors of the old Daily News Building on 42nd Street. At age 12 I was there so often that the Guards knew my name. From cutaway engines I learned exactly how the car engine and transmissions worked. I could name all the different kinds of gear mechanisms. How the cars electrical system worked including the generator that charged the battery etc. etc. Each one of those learning experiences was a joyous discovery. In my later years going to college there was the same kind of discovery in physics, economics, sociology and the humanities. That was just the continuation of a life of endless discovery that never seems to end. A most remarkable gift. Thank you all who provided and encouraged asking why or how or what for?