Florida 2

September 11th was a terrible day.  I'm sure you're all sick to death of hearing about it by now, so I shan't labour the point.  All I remember is that eerie quiet that struck that morning.  By the pool at our hotel, holidaymakers in Hawaiian shirts sat by the Tiki bar motionless, as if a party had been frozen in time.  They stared at the tv, unable to believe what they saw and unable to turn away.  Caro and I went for groceries, and the supermarket was the same.  A small tv in the corner of the store held customers and staff transfixed.  I caught snatches of whispered, worried conversations all around us.  People who had relatives in New York, people who’d just come from there.  

I wasn’t sure how I felt.  It was a tragedy but I was outside of it.  A foreigner looking in on an American tragedy – a stranger at the funeral of that innocence that allowed Americans to believe they were invulnerable because they were American.  I couldn’t help but think of the New Yorkers, who had treated us with such warmth and friendliness.  Their beloved city scarred by the fanaticism of a few hate-filled murderers.  It felt like the rain would never stop.

So our last days in Fort Lauderdale were terribly depressing.  I was mildly cheered by the discovery that the grocery store next to our hotel had British items in it!  You could buy Heinz Beans, Lyle's Golden Syrup, Spotted Dick, Fruity Sauce, Curly-Wurlys, Smarties, Fry's Turkish Delight and Yorkshire Tea, by gum.  (They also had Milo for the Kiwis).  But still, we were very happy when our last day in Fort Lauderdale arrived.
 
We caught the Tri-Rail connection to Miami.  This is a neat little network along the coast of Florida which gets you down to Miami faster than you can say "soolai-soolai-soolaimon" and while we were waiting for it we had an interesting chat with an American guy about New Zealand (he'd been there frequently) and of course, about the terrorist attack.
 
"Those guys were right here," he told us.  "They were learning to fly just a few miles away.  They were seen in a club a few nights back, drinking.  I guess they were celebrating before the attack."  I assume since they were guaranteed a place in heaven for butchering thousands of Americans, they must have thought it was all right to sample a bit of The Great Satan's culture.  

What a bunch of hypocritical b*stards.