September 11 - Wall Street Paper

The following is the column I wrote for jewish.com on September 12, 2001, entitled Wall Street Paper. It is as relevant today as it was ten years ago.

     Part of me is this wildly creative person who thrives on word play and music, Bach and double entendre. That half of me loves to travel, eat in strange places, talk to people I have never seen before and likely will never see again. I understand Mozart when he said he could hear a complete symphony in one breathtaking moment, then sit down and put it all on paper. The artistic part of my brain cherishes nourishment.
     But then there is another aspect of my personality that people either know very, very well, or not at all. I like order. I like my financial records to be in perfect shape. I like personnel files to be kept in secure storage. I like well-conceived procedure guides that define business processes. Succinctly.
     When glued to my television along with the rest of the world, that orderly side of me could not help noticing the unbelievable quantity of paper that escaped the World Trade Center towers without being incinerated. It is not a stretch to assume that among the white sheets on the ground, one could have found employment contracts, stock certificates, drafts of legal briefs, and confidential memoranda.