The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed our lives forever, but people have found numerous creative ways to cope and resume their lives.
By Bryan Corliss
Herald Writer
"When things get back to normal."
We’ve been saying that a lot lately.
Well, welcome to normal, or at least what passes for it now after last month’s terror attacks on America.
They happened four weeks ago on Tuesday. That’s enough time, for most of us, to recover from the initial shock of the attacks, the fiery deaths unfolding live on our televisions like a disaster movie minus the macho Bruce Willis quips.
Time enough to absorb the secondary shock — the announcement of massive aerospace layoffs, which followed a week later. Time enough to cry, to pray, to curse.
Last week, Herald writers talked to a range of people to get a sense of what life’s like these days, now that things have started to get back to "normal."
Here’s what we found.
Area churches reported huge turnouts after the terrorist attacks.
"The Sunday after was standing room only," said the Rev. Horacio Yanez of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marysville. About 1,000 people attended each service rather than the usual 700 or so.
Many attendees were coming back to church or coming for the first time, church leaders said.
The Rev. Rex Furman of Calvary Baptist Church in Everett said attendance there is still up 10 percent because the pastors continue to give sermons on "what kind of people we should be in light of what’s going on."
The Rev. Kerry David Reese of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Snohomish said numbers at his church have fallen back to normal. But while the newcomers were there, he said, he tried to tell them that "with God’s love they don’t have to live in fear."
Another recurring theme was that God will punish the evildoers.
"Be patient," Yanez said. "God will deal out justice."
But fear continues in some ways.
The executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Snohomish County said she is fielding dozens of calls from people afraid the violence has found them here.
"This is the last place," said Van Dinh-Kuno. "They said if anything happens to the United States, we have no place to go."
Several families have told her they are considering returning to countries like Vietnam or Ukraine, because the countries they escaped now seem safer, Dinh-Kuno said.
Dinh-Kuno fled Saigon in 1975 in a boat packed with fellow South Vietnamese trying to escape as the city fell to North Vietnamese forces.
"The feeling I have on Sept. 11 is similar to the feeling I had 26 years ago when I lost my country," she said.
While some are fearful, others were moved to help in myriad ways.
Volunteers who flooded blood banks on the day of the attack have continued to donate in record numbers.
"We’ve had 725 people register to donate since Sept. 11," said Ed Stauffer, supervisor at the Puget Sound Blood Center’s Everett office. Typically, about 150 people sign up during the same period, he said.
"We’re getting a lot of first-time donors and donors who haven’t donated in a long time," Stauffer said.
County residents have dug deeply into their pockets to help out as well.
Nearly $278,000 has been sent to the local Red Cross chapter for terrorist-related disaster assistance.
Donors have been so generous that some social service organizations wonder if it will affect giving to other causes.
"It is a concern," said Mark Todd, vice president of communications for United Way of Snohomish County.
The attacks and impending layoffs are being felt throughout the local economy.
"People are holding their money closer to their vests," said Ray Fritz, who owns Oberg’s restaurant at Smokey Point.
In the first days after the terrorists struck, dinner guests pretty much stopped coming in, but the bar business was up significantly, Fritz said.
Before the attack, Fritz’s staff served up to 60 lunches a day. Now it’s down to 35 to 40.
"It’s obvious consumer confidence is a bit shaky, and with Boeing’s layoff announcement, it compounds the situation," Fritz said.
Dr. Brent Kellogg of Silver Lake Dental Arts also said things immediately slowed down in his office after the attacks.
His business routinely drops at the first hint of economic trouble, he explained. "People just aren’t sure of what’s occurring around them right now."
While the hygienists in his office have been busy cleaning teeth, Kellogg said he’s getting his drill out less during the past three weeks.
The first few days after the attacks were the worst.
"Everybody was glued to the TV," he said. "It’s rebounded a bit."
Whether we need dental work or not, the attacks are keeping many of us closer to home.
Snohomish County hotels have been battered as traveling has dramatically slowed.
"We all definitely took hits," said Elizabeth Olsen, director of sales and marketing at Embassy Suites in Lynnwood and president of the Snohomish County Lodging Association.
Month-end figures aren’t in, she said, but "it’s not going to be small numbers."
Corporate travel is down sharply, she said.
Leisure travel’s down too, said Sandra Ward, director of the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau.
"I don’t think people want to be away for too long," she said.
Those who will travel will take "trips with a purpose," such as going to visit family and friends, Ward predicted.
Stephen Anderson, rail services manager for the state Department of Transportation, said railroads got a huge boost after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"When the disaster occurred, people wanted to use the trains," Anderson said. "They were just stacked."
The demand in ridership threatened to bring down Amtrak’s reservation system. When that happened, people started to realize that without air travel, there’s not a lot to fall back on, Anderson said.
Travel agents were also quite busy after the attacks — but only to cancel clients’ plans.
People are starting to travel again, said Penny Clark, owner of Travel Time of Everett.
"It was very scary those first two weeks because all we got was cancellations," Clark said.
But now people are booking winter and spring vacations. Even people who canceled trips have since called back to rebook, she said.
They’re getting some of the best deals in years, she added. Round-trip air fare to Las Vegas or Orlando is going for less than $125.
Meanwhile, the number of people touring Boeing’s Everett factory is about normal for this time of year — 350 a day. Boeing did shut down the tours for the first few days after the attack, company spokeswoman Debbie Heathers said.
Uncertainties over the attacks remain, and that’s prompted more concern about security.
Before the attacks, Jessica Minturn might go a day or two without selling a cellular telephone at Wireless World in Marysville. But since then, she’s sold six to 10 every day.
Customers are more aware of the security value of cell phones, Minturn said. Doomed passengers on airliners used them. So did people trapped in the rubble in New York.
Still, "I don’t think I’d use that in my pitch to sell them," she said. "It would be a little harsh."
Business is up for Puget Sound Security, a Bellevue-based company that operates in Snohomish County under the name of Whatcom Security Agency.
"We’re hiring," said president Gary Owensby. "There’s definitely an upswing."
Transportation and petrochemical companies have been the most interested in adding security, he said.
Business is good right now, Owensby said. But it wasn’t the kind of growth he was looking for. "That’s not how you want to do it, but when it happens, you’ve got to be there," he said.
Security is a greater priority for many.
"We’ve asked the staff to keep watch for unusual and strange things that don’t seem to fit in with what goes on at the port," said Chris Keuss, deputy executive director of the Port of Edmonds Marina. That would include strange boats, people who don’t belong or a boat loitering in the area.
"I’ve told everyone don’t be afraid to question (strangers)," Keuss said. "But don’t overreact. Obviously, we have a lot of citizens that like to walk along the docks."
While we’re making our personal and work lives more secure, it also appears we will change the way we play.
Spooks and gore will be out on All Hallow ‘s Eve after all the images of death from New York, predicted Andrea O’Brien, owner of the Planet Halloween stores in Edmonds and Auburn.
"After I opened my store, the first boy I had in wanted to be Superman," she said. "I’m sure it was because of (the attacks)."
Look for lots of trick-or-treaters in superhero costumes, O’Brien said, but expand your definition to include cops, firemen, doctors, nurses and construction workers — the superheroes from ground zero.
And princesses, she added. "Girls like to be princesses. Heck, I still like to be a princess."
Gambling was a risk people weren’t willing to take immediately after the terror attacks. But in no time, players returned to the tables at the Tulalip Casino north of Marysville.
Initially, the terrorist attacks also kept people away from theaters, but video rentals have climbed. Business is up 6 percent at Video West on Broadway, said owner Jeff Adkinson.
"We’ve seen an increase, most definitely," Adkinson said.
Comedies have been the most popular.
Some wanted to escape from TV’s repetitive reportage of the terrorist attacks, he said. "People were completely inundated with information. It wasn’t that they were being apathetic."
Action movies have also been in demand among those who are angry over the attacks.
"They have a lot of pent-up aggression," he said. "They can’t go over there. They can’t fight. They can’t take out guns, which many of them have vocalized doing."
Movie theaters are starting to rebound from a dismal weekend after the attacks, according to The Associated Press. The top 12 movies had the worst weekend gross of the year during the weekend following Sept. 11, but ticket sales climbed 47 percent last weekend.
Home sales also are rebounding, according to one report.
John L. Scott Real Estate recorded a 7 percent drop in sales across Western Washington for the month of September, compared to last year.
But interest rates, slashed to 59-year lows by the Federal Reserve, have created opportunities, said company president Lennox Scott. First-time buyers have started to re-enter the market.
"In many of our local markets, we don’t have enough inventory of homes in the more affordable price ranges," Scott said. "We have buyers."
Area military recruiters have seen more prospective enlistees since Sept. 11, but it’s still too early to tell if that will result in more recruits.
More people have been calling and visiting the Army recruiting center on Everett Mall Way in recent weeks, said Sgt. Robert Connolly. The spike has been modest, with some veterans trying to re-enlist and others looking to join for the first time.
Some have told recruiters that the attacks inspired them.
"There’s a sense of patriotism out there," Connolly said.
Navy recruiters reported that calls to the national 800-USA-NAVY phone line jumped 112 percent on Sept. 11, compared to the previous Tuesday.
But joining is not a quick process. Background checks, physical exams and reams of paperwork must first be completed. As a result, it will be a couple of months before the results are in.
There’s always been a lot of pride and patriotism associated with the Marine Corp Junior ROTC program at Snohomish High School.
"Now, it seems that, in general, they are just more patriotic," said Marine Col. John Mack, the program’s commander. "They have more respect for the flag and they have more interest in letting others know they are proud to be Americans."
Mack said the program has 145 students. There hasn’t really been a rush to sign up, he said.
"But students are more in touch with what we are about," he said. "There’s just an overall interest in the flag and the county, and I know that when the kids say the Pledge of Allegiance it has more meaning than it did in the past."
ROTC member Jennifer Schwisow, a senior, said she believes in what she’s doing and wants to encourage every American to support the country.
"That’s really my message," she said. "And I share that with everyone."
Herald writers Mike Benbow, Warren Cornwall, Kathy Day, Todd C. Frankel, Theresa Goffredo, Brian Kelly, Leslie Moriarty, Janice Podsada, Kate Reardon and Sharon Salyer contributed to this report.
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