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Sisyphus · 09-12-2010, 10:20 AM

September 11, 2001? A totally different story....

I was in a client-supplied "Cube-ville" working on a large project not far outside of Boston. My best "work" mate - next cube over - had recently moved from lower Manhattan to another borough. We were just getting into the job site & "organized" (read, surfing web sites that one could "argue" were work-related) when I saw a story hit the wire about a plane hitting the Tower. Yelled over the wall to my boy what I had read.

We didn't think it much more than an oddity at that moment. But, we knew the client cafeteria had a TV so we walked up to kill a few more minutes & see what we could see. We walked into the room just in time to see the 2nd hit. At that point, we sat down. We had known each other a while by then & we think alike so we immediately started riffing on what this was & what would happen next....in a rather matter-of-fact manner that, in retrospect, was kind of surreal. I didn't think about it at the time but we may have spooked the people around us as we "called" most of the morning after the 2nd Tower strike (ie, that there would also be attacks on the Pentagon, the White House and/or the Capitol) before the Pentagon strike happened & before the Flight 93 saga played out.

When the Pentagon actually got hit, I finally panicked a little as I had family nearby. I think that was the 1st time it actually occurred to me to attempt to call anybody to find out if they were okay...or to let them know I was okay. When the Towers collapsed, my boy freaked a little bit because he knew so many people that worked there or nearby. I'll never forget the sound of his voice saying, "they're gone...they're just gone...I can't believe they're gone.."

I don't think either one of us moved from that spot (except for maybe to run downstairs & call everyone else up) until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I remember everybody trying to get calls through & being unable to. I remember it as the "birth of txt/IM" as it became the most effective way for people to let each other know they were okay.

When we finally went back to the hotel where we staying...it was more of the same. I had caught an room upgrade to a suite so everybody from my team in the company wound up there. We just watched TV, drank, & talked. There really wasn't anything else you could to at that point. It was practically impossible to get a phone circuit. We finally got through to the rental car company around midnight & told them we'd be returning the car in DC. But I think it was actually Sept. 13 before we got to leave town because.....

....our tool of an practice partner (who lived in LA) sent out a voicemail that night telling us we were all expected to show up work the next day. As I recall, it took until mid-morning of the 12th for somebody to countermand the a-hole & tell everyone to go home.

Sisyphus · 09-12-2010, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigtex

Actually it was an act of deception on my part! When it became apparent all flights were cancelled, I called and told Budget that I needed to extend my rental beyond that Friday. She told me everything was booked up and I could not extend and I would need to turn the car in at the agreed upon time.

I called them back on Friday and told them I was in Little Rock, Arkansas and would turn the car in when I reached Houston the following day.

There wasn't much they could say, other than ok!

Good catch! I do recall a similar exchange...

"Whaddya mean, it's booked? Who do you think was gonna rent it? I'll tell you...somebody who's NOT COMING now...."

"You can find the car at your facility in DC. If you wanna arrest me, you know where I live...."

ICU 812 · 09-12-2010, 01:06 PM

Thank you, everyone, for this sharing.

My son was in college on 9-11 and joined the Marines on graduation in2002. He went to Iraq in '04 for 7 months as a lieutenant commanding a platoon of light armored reconnaissance vehicles (LAV-25, a little tank with wheels). They fought in Fallujah.

He came home safe in ‘05. Home now. Good job, married . . .grandchild.

I encourage everyone to share these memories of Sept 11th on other more public boards.

My thanks to all who have, or currently serve to keep us free. . .including dfw5travler and mj2749.

atlcomedy · 09-12-2010, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICU 812

Thank you, everyone, for this sharing.

My son was in college on 9-11 and joined the Marines on graduation in2002. He went to Iraq in '04 for 7 months as a lieutenant commanding a platoon of light armored reconnaissance vehicles (LAV-25, a little tank with wheels). They fought in Fallujah.

He came home safe in ‘05. Home now. Good job, married . . .grandchild.

I encourage everyone to share these memories of Sept 11th on other more public boards.

My thanks to all who have, or currently serve to keep us free. . .including dfw5travler and mj2749.

Thank you to your son & the rest that have served.

The irony was on that day it wasn't our service people that were the heroes but ordinary Americans that hopped on a Subway Train to go to work like any other day....

& LMAO at the rental car stories...talk about possession being 90% of ownership (or in this case just control)...I'm just wondering if today they would have the technology to remotely lo-jack or lock the engine (if they were so inclined)

Aidan MacKenna · 09-12-2010, 02:59 PM

I was at home folding laundry. I had just turned off the TV before the music to Teletubbies began as I could not stand one more episode and my little one was content with playing with the laundry basket. I received a telephone call from another "desperate housewife" around the corner. She told me to turn on the television and when I did, I watched the second tower get hit live.

I remember there was a correspondent at the pentagon and I watched it get hit as well.

The elementary school my son attended was on lockdown and they asked the parents who called in to remain calm.

I was in shock most of the day; then, when I was finally able to pick up my son from school, all I could do was cry.

5150 · 09-12-2010, 06:13 PM

I was finishing breakfast at my hotel in Tyson Corner, VA. Cell phones and pagers were going off like crazy. Went up to my room and sat on the edge of my bed stunned as I watched the news worried sick about several of my friends who are sub-contractors and did work at the Pentagon.

Had a rental car and drove back to TX from VA with 4 other people that I worked with.

Mazomaniac · 09-12-2010, 07:18 PM

I was in traffic on the George Washington Parkway about two miles from the Pentagon when the plane went in. Downtown DC was a mess that day, but people stood in the wind and did their job. We kept one eye on the sky, but everyone persevered.

Mazo.

Tiffany Cums · 09-12-2010, 10:25 PM

I remem ber where I was when JFK was shot.
I was not here yet...

I remember where I was when the Detroit Tigers won the World Series.
What?? Tigers?? As in 'Roar!?!?'

I remember where I was when we were attacked on September 11th, 2001.
In my living room, watching the Today show with my sister, with my baby on my lap and hubby snoozing in the bedroom...I remember they cut to the first Trade center after it was hit, and Katy Couric was the one reporting, saying they didn't know what had happend yet but there appears to be a hole in the side of the building...When they hit the Pentagon, it was time to wake up hubby...

TaraMarie · 09-13-2010, 07:50 PM

9/11 I was on a flight from Tulsa airport to St Louis MO. we had to set down(orders to clear the air field) in Springfield MO. airport was empty with one or two attendants there and big screen TV's playing the second airplane hitting the twin towers. wow!!! very emotional!!!!

Guest083011 · 09-13-2010, 10:50 PM

Without describing my real world I was with a bunch of friends playing with cars (ok motorsports 1,200 miles from home. Very surreal. We stood down from our little event. Two days later we finished what we started. Reminds me of an editorial from the Hartford Courant September 8th, 2002:

What Will You Do On 9/11?
September 8, 2002

Self-protective souls who have been trying to expunge from their thoughts the horrible sights and sounds of Sept. 11, 2001, are finding little solace in the days leading up to the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks that changed America.

There is no escaping replay after replay of the Twin Towers aflame, the Pentagon burning and the gouge in the Pennsylvania earth where Flight 93 went down that day.

News organizations, churches, schools, government bodies, labor organizations and businesses have been preparing for weeks to cover or participate in memorial services, analyze the deluge of data that have accumulated in a year, provide profiles of the lost, the heroic and the survivors. There will be patriotic speeches, moments of silence, memorial services, classroom discussions, campus teach-ins and candlelight vigils.

Much of the reliving may seem like overkill, even insensitive. But Sept. 11, 2001, was a cataclysmic event in our history that merits a day of mourning.

It is too soon to put the experience behind us. A poll published in Time magazine shows that a third of all adults have thought about it daily since the attacks. Most believe another act of terrorism is likely in the next year.

It is therapeutic to try and make sense of the senseless, to relive the unity that characterized public reaction to having our sense of security violated by extremists.

The first anniversary of the terrorist acts is an appropriate day for grieving, each of us in our own way. But the notion that Sept. 11 ought to be designated a national holiday should be squelched. We already have a day set aside to honor heroism and remember our war dead - Memorial Day. That is the appropriate occasion for a permanent observation of the day the skies rained fire.

On Wednesday, some will go to services or attend communal gatherings marking each moment of terror. Some will spend the day in museums, at concerts, reading from among the many books published since the event or watching special programs on television. Some, like Lisa Beamer, widow of a Flight 93 passenger, will mark the day reflectively, surrounded by her children. Some will ignore the calendar. A few will exploit the day's commercial potential. The majority, according to the Time/CNN poll, will display American flags and spend the day praying by themselves.

That's the beauty of America. When someone asks, "What will you do on Sept. 11? " each of us is free to answer: "Anything I wish."

Guest083011 · 09-13-2010, 10:52 PM

For a slight tangent, do you remember where you where when the Shuttle Challenger blew up?

Sisyphus · 09-13-2010, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SR Only

For a slight tangent, do you remember where you where when the Shuttle Challenger blew up?

Oddly enough....yes, I do. I was sitting in the campus snack bar. The lunch they were serving in the dining hall that day was awful. So, I thought to myself... I'll grab a "Ms. D-Burger" & watch a little tele.

Another strange day....

davec.0121 · 09-13-2010, 11:29 PM

On 9-11 I was on a Continental flight from Newark to Houston. We left out of Newark about 8:30 or so and as the plane circled up over New York I could see smoke coming from one of the Towers. We later diverted to Atlanta. Of course we didn't know what was happening until we got there. We stayed with family for a couple of days until we could get a car and drive back to Houston.

I was in school when JFK was shot. We had gotten out of class the day before to see him and Jackie the day before when they visited San Antonio. We all walked over to watch their motorcade go down Broadway. I remember thinking that he looked really bad -- kind of grey and puffy.

When the Challenger blew up I was at work in Richardson. I received a few calls from friends because I had known Christa and Steve McAulife when we were in school.

Guest060211-3 · 09-14-2010, 12:19 AM

9/11 is special for me for more than just what happened in NY.
my middle sisters bday is 9/11 she past away in 04 at 39 leaving behind 4 kids.

as for that day in 01. i was on the way to temple texas. one of the radio stations was talking about it, and from what they were saying just didnt make too much sense, so i switched the station and everyone was talking about it. i get in to temple to take care of my business and as i was coming back home i stopped at a motel and watched it unfold on the tv.

stand strong america, and never ever forget.

peace
atx

Guest053011 · 09-14-2010, 12:00 PM

I was leaving court, they had postponned my case yet another day as they had been for months. On the drive they interrupted the music to announce a plane had accidentally crashed into the towers.

I went to visit my college, running in to tell them to turn on the TV's and radios. They were in classes since early morning and had no idea what was going on. The school crawled to a halt as they realized I wasn't making it up. We stood in the hallways and classrooms of Toronto, crying, as confused and afraid for our neighbors as you were for your own people. As much as we pick on the US, there was no antagonism, no criticism, so cynicism that day. We wept for all the innocent perishing before our eyes.

I'm one of those people who can cry watching the news or the paper, so I rarely watch. The truly wretched stories stick with me for days and effect my mood. I didn't hear about the NOLA Katrina disaster until 4 days had already passed - that's how good I am at isolating myself from it.

The footage of 911 left a perminant mark and I can still well up with tears thinking about it. It makes me feel sort of pathetic and weak, as most of the human race can manage these things just fine.

It reminds me of a scene I saw in Hotel Rowanda a conversation between the hotel owner and a reporter:

"I'm glad that you have shot this footage, and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that the world will intervene."

"And if they don't intervene, is it still good to show it?" replied the reporter, "I think if people see this footage they'll say 'Oh my god, that's horrible.' and go on eating their dinners."