I'm as guilty of this as anyone, but it would be nice to see a day where a whole lot less complaining went on, and some words in memory of, or tribute to those casualties and surviving members of those who are less fortunate than many of us. I feel so terrible for the children and families of the victims. I would be at a total loss for my son if my wife had been in the towers or on one of the planes. My heart, sympathy, and prayers go out to the families of those affected by that tragedy. It makes the problems reflected on these boards, again, by myself as well, seem so ****ed petty. To the family of my friend and classmate, Robert Jordan, my deepest sympathies...

Right on, Skip. Worrying about an upgrade seems kinda silly when you look at it like that.

I absolutely cannot believe it has been a year already.

Let's just hope that our silly worries are the ONLY ones we'll have.....

I just went out to the car to listen to the services on the radio, Pataki reading the Gettysburg Address was perhaps the best choice to mark the day with.

My wife had a reservation on the first plane, she canceled the week before to stay home for the high holidays. One of my best friends had a meeting at 9am at Windows On the World, he stopped to get a coffee and didn't arrive early as he had planned to.

I know many people whose friends and relatives were not so lucky. The best memorial we can give them is to never forget, and to say "Never Again".

Amen

Very Interesting point Skip! We as citizens of a FREE & OPEN society have many blessings to count! And in the overalll scheme of things upgrades are indeed trivial when the sacrifices that those who fight now and those who have gone before us endured in order for us to have Freedom and Liberty in the USA. I chose not to watch not one single speech or news event today. I preferred to go out into the solitude of my Ocean County home. To my favorite place in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and reflect. Reflect on my reaction to 9/11! The intense anger, the refusal to follow company policy and drive home. I waited until O'hare opened and defied policy rather than succumb to fear. I thought if my uncle could survive the slaughter at Omaha beach on D-Day then **** it I could sit in an RJ back to the pines. Then at about 10PM in the evening of 9/11 I booked a flight to see a true friend, a friend, lover and dear companion who is fast becoming all this world to me. I remembered comforting her and making a pact that we honor to this very day. That pact was to always make sure that when we left each others company to always be sure to say "I Love you" so that no matter what happened the other would know how we felt about each other. I remembered telling her that I would NEVER just go down with out a fight. I wanted her to know that if it happened again I would be as brave as those on the Schanksville flight. And Bless her heart she wanted me to keep my job because she saw how I loved it so. We finally agreed that I would call after each landing even if it was the 20 minute puddle duck from ACY to PHL. The interesting thing to all of this was the role US Air played in my post 9/11 travel plans. We decided to try to book EVERY single flight on US Air because they generally fly smaller jets or turbo props on the routes that I travel. I have been on a 767 less than 5 times in 2+ years. We felt that smaller non jet planes would give me an extra margin of safety. I remember a screaming match with my mother about continuing to fly. I thought back to how proud i felt, I was helping my country fight back by flying 8 to 16 segments per month and doing a job that I love. IT was all so vivid as i sat amongst the Pines, then driving past the cranberry bogs and along the ocean to my home. When I got home the reality sat in. It was another business day and once again I felt screwed by the airlines, US in particular. We live in an era where customer loyalty is meere lip service. we utilize an industry that views us as lambs to be led to slaughter as oposed to a partnership to be nurtured. After my day of reflection I am beginning to belive that one of the lasting positives of 9/11 will be the demise of the major airlines. For me it can't come soon enough. To me they make Lawyers and used car salesmen seem ethical. I HATE them