I remember the phone call. Sue’s mother asking if we had seen what was happening. We turned on the television, and saw the smoke…the hole in the side of the building. I remember that I saw it as a tragic accident. Then the second plane hit. It was no longer an accident. 

Then the towers fell, and the entire world changed irrevocably. That was the moment my country went mad.
Three thousand lives ended, and the ripples spread out from there. For a time we loved each other. We saw that we were part of a whole. But under the surface the insanity was taking root. Grief and rage colored everything. They still do.

It was at least a month before anything was funny. I had to teach a beginning sketch comedy writing class two days afterward. I had no idea how I was going to approach it, until I started talking. I told this story…
My wife and I went to Woodfield mall the afternoon of 9/11. We didn’t want to stay home and watch the endless repetition of the footage and the speculation. And we didn’t really want to be alone, but we didn’t want to talk to anyone. So we drove out to the mall.

Many of the stores were closed, and there weren’t many people there. After about an hour they announced over the PA that, due to the days events, the mall was closing. 

Then two mall cops came through and started sweeping us toward the exits.

“Folks, we have a situation and we are going  to have to clear the mall.” 
The “situation” was in New York and Washington. Nobody believed that the targets were the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. But everyone dutifully obeyed these mall cops, and they were so proud. For the first time, people were respecting them and following their instructions.

Sue and I laughed as we walked to our car. Because it was funny. And that was what I told my students. There is always something funny. If you look at the core event of a tragedy you will not find it. But look around the edges. The periphery. There is humor there.

I still view 9/11 as the fulcrum on which my life turned. Things went to pieces after that. My career, my depression, my life….my country. Everything changed on that day, and I watched the exact moment it started. 

But I learned one thing. I still look for the humor around the edges. And it’s still there.