Sponge Bob fights war on terror

I'm sure we will all rest easy on Wednesday night knowing that pop life has gone on since Sept. 11. "Pop Life Goes On" is an MTV news special airing Wednesday which will look at how the entertainment industry responded to the attacks. I'm sure it will help me overcome my grief. \nMTV isn't the only cable channel cashing in on … I mean ... remembering the tragedies of Sept. 11. ESPN will show us the connection the heroes of Flight 93 had to sports while CMT will air patriotic videos. In addition to cable specials, network television will broadcast news and reflections all day dealing with the attacks. \nWhile memorial services (and even certain television programs) are called for on Wednesday, spending the entire day watching television will accomplish nothing. We don't need a television program to tell us how sad we already are. \nSo why not do something meaningful on the anniversary of Sept. 11? For example, there is a blood drive at College Mall from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday. A year after more blood was donated than needed, our country is facing a shortage. \nMaybe all the donors were busy watching TV. \nAfraid of needles but still looking for something meaningful to do Wednesday? How about going to class as (hopefully) you normally do. The first day I went back to work at my internship in Washington, D.C. after the attacks, my dad e-mailed me and told me going back to work was, "The one thing you can do to send a middle finger salute to the forces of darkness and terror." \nAt first I thought, am I on Star Wars now? But he had a dramatic yet valid point. I think he might have been the one to coin the phrase, "...then the terrorists have already won." Any sense of normalcy, even enjoyment, that we can instill in our lives will be a way for us as U.S. citizens to fight back without any bloodshed. \nWhat would make Osama happier -- Americans living our lives to the fullest, or drowning the continent with our tears? \nIf you can, go a step beyond normalcy. Have some fun Wednesday. I will watch as many episodes of "SpongeBob Squarepants" as possible because I need lots of laughter to get me through the day. Laughter was always my answer to any problem I faced, but it seemed especially difficult to use this tactic after the attacks. Last year I was missing the safety of the Midwest, so I decided to read the IDS online and see what was happening back home. I read something that day in an opinion column by Joe Grace. He said, "Even during the worst times, there's always a glimmer of hope and at least a tiny little something to laugh about." \nAnd he was right. \nI realized as I watched the mailroom workers in my office on Halloween it is possible to laugh in the face of tragedy. In the midst of an anthrax scare that affected the post office our building used, these mailroom workers' Halloween costumes consisted of face-masks and rubber gloves. They had a legitimate reason to be scared, yet they chose laughter instead. While I am not suggesting we laugh at the deaths of last September, I urge you to find something on Wednesday that makes you laugh and makes you happy. If we don't, then as my dad would say, "the terrorists have already won"