POSH POLL: How Long Does it Take Apathy to Set In?

I too, like many Americans, can remember where I was when September 11th happened in 2001.

I was a new student at the University of Pittsburgh and a Pathfinder (tour guide). I was giving a tour of the campus and entered the student center. I then started to notice that my tour attendees stopped paying attention to me. Astonished, because I thought I was the best thing since sliced bread, I started to look at where there attention was directed. This gaze brought me to a television screen, where I saw a video of a plane hitting the first World Trade Center tower.
“Is this a movie?” they asked when they noticed I had stopped talking. “Do you show movies on this television in the student center?”

I was frozen. As you know, it wasn’t a movie.

We never showed movies during time at Pitt.

Fast forward to today- September 9, 2011.

Though that moment, and the ones that followed, were those that I would never forget, it was 10 years ago. I have never been to Ground Zero. I never had issues contacting a loved one in New York during this time. I never saw the smoke, the rubble, or the body parts first hand. In a way, I was removed. It’s real, but then it’s unreal for me.

Am I not American because I don’t sit and watch every special to REMEMBER 9/11? Am I a “bad person” because I have rolled my eyes at the plethora of specials, ads, news clippings, and stories about THAT DAY and the DAYS after?

Maybe I am just a victim of one of the most pervasive illnesses to affect the American people. One that can stay within the body for years on end, tends to show limited symptoms, and can only be detected when something like “a need for action” flares up. This illness is called apathy.I have always wondered, when, and how, does apathy occur. Furthermore, how long does it take for apathy to set in?

Apathy has been a word thrown around whenever people disagree on how much one “cares” or “should care” about a certain subject. This level of care is ALWAYS relative, however, and can be manifested in several different ways. I mean, some people argue that vehicles like social media has allowed apathy to become even more common. Does a facebook status denote care? Does this make someone more/less apathetic than me?

If I follow #remember911 , have I done my part?

I’m not saying that I “don’t care” about what happened during 9/11. I’m not saying that I do not feel bad for those whose lives were lost and for their families. What I am saying, however, is that I may be slightly apathetic about the issue.

I’m guessing it took 10 years for me to get that way.