Eerie

Have you ever seen the movie called The Happening, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan? It was well executed and the idea was good but it was one of the worst I ever saw as far as gory movies go. It was so gory. I will do my best to describe some parts of the movie (which you will have seen if you saw previews for the movie) that relate to this post without spoiling the movie for you, if you haven't seen it.

The story is set in Pittsburgh, a bustling, teeming, busy city that never stops. You get the sense of people always moving; the parks full of people playing and walking, ongoing construction, heavy traffic on streets with blaring horns and sidewalks full of pedestrians headed somewhere, etc. Full of motion and noise.

Then....the wind blows.

A calm settles over the city.

Hurrying pedestrians are stopped dead in their tracks, motionless and staring vacantly ahead. Cars are completely stopped with drivers sitting deathly still in their seats. People enjoying the weather in the park stand where they are, also staring vacantly into space. Those reading books on park benches are sitting and staring expressionlessly ahead, unconscious of books lying in their laps.

It is too calm. Too still. It bodes ill for the folks, who became frozen as the wind blew over them.

At 9:05 am on Thursday, November 10th, I was living in a scene like that. Literally. We were in our apartment and we heard what sounded like a tornado warning siren. We walked to the windows to see what was going on. People on the sidewalk were stopped dead in their tracks. People looking out windows didn't move. Our doorman had been sweeping the stoop of our building and was also standing stock still with the broom in his hand, staring off into the distance. No cars were moving on what was normally a busy street. I saw a stooped grandma with her head covered by a scarf standing motionless. A group of young men stood together in a group on a corner, staring, motionless. One of them had his phone to his ear and as far as I could tell, he was not talking. It was a scene straight out of The Happening.

It was too eerie. But why the siren? Was something terrible about to happen? As far as we could tell, the weather was cold and overcast but calm with some gentle breezes. No signs of a storm. An earthquake? It's impossible to predict an earthquake and sound an alarm in advance. Catastrophe? No one seemed alarmed or running around in panic. The stillness was strange - I felt a little sliver of fear. What was happening?

Finally, after a couple of minutes, the alarm stopped and everybody suddenly went into motion. The doorman went back to sweeping. People disappeared from windows. The grandmother continued to the corner and around it. The gaggle of young men crossed the street. Cars started going by. Life resumed.

We were baffled. Hour and half later, G's language teacher showed up for their daily tutoring session. I asked about the siren and described what we saw outside our building - the frozen people on sidewalks and in windows. After he explained, he started laughing because how odd it must've seemed to us (I'd shown him the preview of The Happening on my computer). I was laughing because it turned out to be something simple as what I will explain below.

So, here's the story. At 9:05 am on November 10th of every year, everyone stops what they are doing and stands still to observe two minutes of silence in honor of the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk. It was at the exact moment and day that he died in 1938. The entire country observes this moment of silence every year at this specific date and time. Today is basically Ataturk Memorial Day.

Ataturk was the first in the Central Asia and Middle East region to establish a democracy, back in early 1920s. They continue to be a successful model of what a Muslim society with a democratic government looks like. Many Turks love Ataturk for his brilliance, progressive views, his leadership and honor him every year.

Not The Happening, but a memorial. Whew.