Exceptionalism

What do we do when something unexceptional happens to something exceptional? This question has really stuck with me because I had never really thought about it before. Although you do not realize it, but this happens quite often. Not only does it happen to countries, but it happens to people too. For instance what do we do when a celebrity or famous athlete goes to rehab or gets hurt. We initially freak out and act like the world is coming to an end. We are human and get stuck in a mindset that nothing bad can happen and we just continue living each day until something terrible happens to us or the people close to us.
When September 11th happened what did Americans do? People freaked out. Nothing this terrible had ever happened. We thought why did they target America and why did they choose to hit the World Trade Center? So many lives were changed that day. Not only did people lose loved ones, they also lost their jobs. The American government was also shocked and immediately said that we should go to war to find who did this. America had been hurt but we wanted to come back and be dominant still. Since the American government knew it had connection with Osama Bin Laden, they went directly for him. In Roy’s reading she says it was like Bin Laden vanished after America started to go after him. She also makes a joke towards the American government about how Tintin, a fictional character, could have found him. Instead of thinking hard and trying to figure out what would be the best way to take action, they immediately sent troops and we were off to war. This grand country that everyone thought could not be touched had something so terrible happen that caused many deaths and the cause of much disagreement within the country.