Post 9/11 Mall of America

I am one of the lucky few who is privileged to work at the Mall of America (I'm being sarcastic if you can't tell). The monument above is right outside the Caribou that I work at on the first floor. The monument is for all who died in the acts of 9/11 including the late Minnesota resident, Tom Burnett Jr., a passenger on the Unite Airlines Flight 93. The Mall of America is an object of culture in itself. It is a staple of Minnesota culture and American culture. Everyone has heard of the Mall of America. Everyday the mall is crazy busy and always has a fun, happy, and safe atmosphere to it. However, September 11th 2011 was a different day at the mall and at work. It was more of an eerie environment than that of a fun tourist attraction. My position going into work that day was very vulnerable. How could it not be? Basically everywhere I looked there was talk about the MOA being a potential target for some sort of terrorist attack. Our culture post 9/11 has changed our outlooks and opinions on many different things. I hate to say it but through out the day I caught myself looking around for some sort of "sign" of terrorist activity. A post 9/11 culture has made its subjects more aware and alert of what is going on around them. In a way our culture today has put us in a position against safety. We live in fear of what could happen. Not only this, but our culture today (in my opinion) has become a more judging culture. We look at certain groups of people in a different way than we would have in the past. In a post 9/11 world when shopping at the MOA you might be labeled as suspicious and might actually get caught up in the war against terror (check out link: http://vimeo.com/28681792). The monument I mentioned before was guarded by multiple security/police officers on Sept. 11th. Through out the day I saw several people come up to the monument and put flowers next to it. After these flowers were set by the monument, the guard would then search it for any sort of threat. As I worked that day I wondered how customers felt about the upped security and the gloomy idea of an attack on the mall. How did each customer identify with 9/11? Ten years later, what are the majority of people's position on post 9/11 culture? Both the MOA and the monument inside of it signify different things. They each create different positions to different people. Yet, these meanings and positions are influenced by a post 9/11 culture. Since last Sunday I have gone into work with a completely new outlook. I was made to feel a certain way about where I work by the ever changing culture that surrounds me.