Word: normalized
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What happens when you are told to go back to your normal life but have trouble finding your way there? This is what the U.S. government asks of its citizens. "Enjoy life," President Bush says. "Go down to Disney World." Because it is normal to want to have fun. Buy stocks, say the Wall Street cheerleaders, boost the market, because it is normal to want to get rich. Feel your feelings, say the grief counselors, because anger is normal and anguish is cleansing and there's nowhere to hide in any case. A party store in Texas gets an order...
...that we ever will again, if normal means Sept. 10. In our mourning for the way we were, there is some comfort in admitting that our world back then was not as safe as we thought; and it may not now be quite as dangerous as it seems. It helps to find people whose fears are whirling out of control, because they make you feel sane and brave by comparison. A rich couple in Coral Gables, Florida, buys gas masks and chemical suits for the whole family; bemused neighbors inquire whether they are designer label. At least one Hollywood celebrity...
...TIME asked people whether life had returned to normal since the attacks; 60% of Americans said it had. But normal is a homier place than before, full of creamy food, maybe some bottled water in the basement. Children's librarians say that parents are asking for old friends such as Goodnight Moon and The Borrowers, looking for a soft path to guide their children toward sleep. You can finally walk into the Radio Shack in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, without finding people glued to the seven TVs. Patriotism is normal, not sentimental or defiant or retro. At an Iowa orthodontist's office...
...Normal is a line that rocks and weaves; you have to chase it. In New York it means leaving home two hours earlier if you have to drive over a bridge, because it takes a while for the guards to crawl over and under and through every 18-wheeler that is trying to get into Manhattan. But it was a comfort in the midtown crush, finally, to hear a driver yell, "Hey, move the car, jerk!" and sense the return of vehicular hostility; that felt like normal too. Miss America visited ground zero, as did Paul Newman and John Travolta...
...Tragedy has frisked us all. We are finding out what we are carrying around that no one knew we had. Maybe normal is not a useful word for now, too slippery and glib. Maybe transcendence for the moment lies with routine, doing the same things as before, even if we do them differently, with a heavier heart or a lighter touch or a glance over our shoulder. The rescue workers keep saying that they are just doing their jobs. And so they invite us to do the same...