Remembering 9/11

The horrifying images on TV screens turned our world upside down 10 years ago.

Several of us were in High Point that sunny morning, making the rounds at Premarket. I was visiting an upholstery company when the first fragmentary reports came in. Something had happened in New York City. And then the chaos in New York quickly got worse as the World Trade Center towers came crashing down.

I conducted a few interviews with industry leaders that strange, sad day, but it seemed like the wrong thing to be doing at the time. We all needed time to watch the developments on TV, to take stock of what had suddenly happened to our country, to somehow figure out where we went next.

The answer, as it turned out, was back to work.

The stunned executives at Premarket quickly regained their footing, planning fundraising events and showing the kind of heart this industry possesses in tough times. The market that followed the next month featured patriotic themes and donations to worthy groups. Business went on.

Yes, the world is a different place now. Travel is a much bigger hassle. Our nation continues to fight wars overseas. Terrorism is real to us in a way we could not have imagined a decade ago.

But as I think back to Sept. 11, 2001, I'm impressed with the resilience that our industry displayed as it grappled in the aftermath of the tragedy with a changed world. We are an optimistic industry, and an optimistic nation, and we have moved ahead, as we must.