“Should we rejoice in Osama’s Death?”

This question comes from reader “Eliza Doolittle” and it is a good question that is on the mind of many peoples in many lands. Just as we will all remember where we were on 9/11, so too shall we remember where we were when ten years later we heard of his death.

Zamboni myself, I was in the Big Apple as it is called, on 9/11. Horshack, my personal tailor, was making on me a suit of purple and green Harris Tweed that I was planning to wear that night on stage, my premiere at Carnegie Hall. A show that never happenned, and a suit never finished.

I still see the confused faces, shell-shocked people, running, screaming. The smoke, endless and thick grey smoke and ash filling the streets. It was like nothing you have experienced, unless you were there.  I saw the fire fighters rushing to there, over 3oo of them not to return. Perhaps you too were there, or saw on TV. We were all New Yorkers then, even us Estonians, remember that unity? Where did it go?

Then two nights ago when I heard the news of his death I was in an airport bar in Madrid, having VIP lounge service with my nails buffed while I sipped Mojitos and got seaweed wrap on my face. Due to my 64,789,453 frequent miles I receive many perks of this type. We saw the young Americans cheering and running and laughing and screaming like Estonians at soccer match. They were in front of White House doing this. It seemed strange to me and there was much shaking of heads in the bar. I did not like feel New Yorker then, and definitely not like one of these  washingtonians.

So Eliza, to answer your question, Zambonesman think “rejoice” is no good here. “Rejoice” is happy like re-unioin with old lost friend or a wedding. To rejoice in death seems not good to Zamboni. But even Zamboni cannot know what this feel like for wife who lost husband in the Towers. Perhaps  some have earned the right to rejoice.

I say “breathe a sigh of relief” is better.

But a line from Macbeth comes to me as I sigh this out, “We have scotched the snake…not killed it.”

When the Black Hawk helicopter was downed in Somalia, they rejoiced over the American dead. They say you become what you hate- let that not be so.