| 9/11/2006 |
STUCK IN A MOMENT
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Today is obviously a day of rememberence of those who died in the World Trade Center attacks as well as the attack on the Pentagon, and Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. This is what I remember.
I was working overnights at the The Hotline. The morning shift was slowly trickling in. Some of them were talking about a plane crash, but they didn't know too many details by this point.
"A plane crashed into the World Trade Center," someone said. A co-worker asked where the WTC was even located.
"Chicago, I think," I responded and laugh a little bit at my geographic ignorance. I didn't konw for sure then. Now everyone knows where the World Trade Center once stood.
A I got in my Jeep to drive home the normally jovially crude DJ's that I listen to were fielding calls from listeners about what was happening. In the short time that I walked to my car, another plane had crashed into the World Trade Center twin towers. Although, according to reports the DJ's were getting they weren't sure if it was just duplicate reports of the same 'accident'. No one knew for sure if it was a terrorist attack yet.
I went home and immediately turned on the TV. Any channel, really... Every channel that wasn't a kids station was showing some kind of coverage it seemed. I couldn't take my eyes of the screen.
Footage of the crash.
To say that I was stunned is an understatment. Shock. Awe. Horror. Fascination. What in the world was going on? What was going on in The World? I am surprised I watched. I'm not a tragedy maven that I have to see things like that. Yet... how could you 'not' watch?
Footage of President Bush being informed about the attacks was starting to come in. The look on his face... It was one that I would describe as shock and dread. Not too mention he's sitting in a room full of school children. How DO you react?
I had been awake for far too long by this point. I needed sleep. What would the world be like when I woke up? Would we be at war? Would other targets be hit?
I said a silent prayer (something I rarely do).
Waking up was a surreal experience. I turned on the TV to find coverage still going strong. "Terror attacks" was the term being used now. The Pentagon had also been hit. A flight had gone down in Pennsylvania. Towers 1 & 2 had fallen. Others were close behind. President Bush was here and gone from Omaha while I slept.
Footage of the collapse. People hanging out of window. Some jumping or falling.
My thoughts returned to work... We took calls for a crisis line out of New York City. I wondered what work was going to be like that night.
The same footage being shown over and over. How many times were we going to see it? How many times was I going to sit there and watch it?
I had a call from my Grandmother suggesting that I go get gas before the prices sky rocketed. I needed to anyway. The gas stations all had huge lines. Everyone had the same idea that if it had anything to do with the Middle East that gas would jump in price. What was considered 'high' five years ago is 'low' now. I also withdrew some money from the ATM. Yes, I was one of 'those' people. It seemed like the thing to do.
I returned home and continued to watch broadcasts on various stations. Flipping channels, each one seemed to show the same clips. For a while, nothing new was really being said. Images of dust covered people were starting to make their way into the video collage of planes crashes and tower collapses.
It was a tragically historic moment.
Once at work that night, I expected a huge influx of calls. People worried about loved ones. People who had lost loved ones. General conversations about what had happened. We got those... but not nearly to the extent I thought we would. We were now taking all the calls for the line out of New York City. (No surprise.) What dumbfounded me was what the majority of callers from NYC were discussing. Sure, there was the occasional topical call. For the most part our NYC callers were complaining about how long it took for them to reach us. (New York phone networks in the state they were in.) Complaints about mundane daily things. Garbage disposal not working. Problems with a neighbor over an argument. One gentleman had recieved his mail yet and was sure it was because the postman didn't like him.
I was close to losing it. Are you kidding me?! Have you looked out your window? Did you get a moment to turn on the TV or a radio at all yet today? Some of these folks had slept through the day, like I had, but for other reasons. Many were blissfully unaware that anything had even happened. I must say, there is bliss in ignorance. Yet, I add that I would rather know.
The next few days seemed to all blur together. News programs would occasionally have new information about the attacks. Mainly, they rehashed the same stories and spoke with every and any political advisor that would sit still long enough to be on camera.
Timelines were constructed. Renderings of the Towers' collapsing were done.
I didn't remember were the World Trade Center was then. I remember now. |
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I posted this @ 9/11/2006 12:49:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
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