8:46am--when the world changed.
Sep. 11th, 2006 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunchofgrapesI heard just recently that nearly every person who was old enough to remember will recall where they were and what they were doing on 9/11/01. I don't know about the rest of you but it's definitely true for me.
It was the most perfect day ever. The sky was a sharp blue that comes with cool temperatures and no humidity or clouds. It was a beautiful day. And I was late leaving the house.
I remember there was a big back up on Route 7 so I was going to turn around and go another way. I did a sort of u-turn at the light and nearly hit a guy turning right.
I was listening to Elliot in the Morning on DC101, which is sort of the local version of Howard Stern but not nearly as bad. Elliot is usually very snarky and on this morning, Elliot and his sidekick, Diane, were going on about a report of a plane hitting one of the towers. They assumed it was a small plane and then proceeded to go about how in the heck does a pilot not see the WTC? And then they got the word. It wasn't a small plane, it was a big plane. And then another plane hit. Ever felt totally helpless and cut off? Well, that's how I felt. I didn't turn around and go home--instead I went into work, driving as slow as the traffic around me. I think we were all on auto-pilot at that point because no one was speeding and no one was getting pissy about it, pretty amazing for this area. When I got into work, I didn't want to leave my car because I didn't want to leave the radio. When I finally did, I practically sprinted to my office where I have a short-wave radio. What really surprised me when I got to my group was how many people didn't know. Not everyone had a radio so they didn't know the planes hit or the towers fell. Not yet anyway. What came next was chaos. I recall listening to DC101, who had by then switched over the Peter Jennings (I'd just like to say that Elliot and Diane did an outstanding job reporting on the events), and there were all kinds of reports coming in: a bomb went off in front of the State Department, The old Executive building was on fire, the old USA Today building in Rosslyn was on fire--I mean it was a mess. At one point they mentioned that jets had been dispatched from Langley and were heading up to shoot down one more plane headed our way. They mentioned that one time and then never again.
At the time there were no cable news feeds on any of the TV's in our building (they've changed this in our new building) so we were left trying to get info from this one TV that only got two stations: something with that whackjob, Pat Robertson, and a Spanish station. After hearing the whackjob spout off about how this was all our fault, we switched over to the Spanish station. Unfortunately, we had no sound so even if someone in the room spoke Spanish, all we had were pictures. That didn't help our apprehension. To top it all off, we had people over in Arlington, near the Pentagon. They heard the crash and saw the smoke so they were already jumpy. The sonic boom from one of the jets overhead nearly killed them all. Thankfully, the ones who were still sticking it out, finally went home.
What I remember the most about that day was how, in one minute, the world changed. Our world changed. And it would never, ever be like it was. What I remember second was how quiet it became. I live near Dulles Airport. I'm immune to the sound of aircraft flying overhead but when that sound went away, the silence was...scary. I can't tell you how happy I was when the planes started flying again.
The thing about this area is that everyone knows someone who works or worked at the Pentagon. My dad was still in the Navy Reserves then and the plane hit the radio room, where he worked when he was on duty. He knew someone on the plane that hit the Pentagon and two people killed at the Pentagon. My company lost two employees who were also working there. I knew one of them.
Thinking about 9/11 always makes me sad, whether it's the first anniversary or the fifth. Maybe it's because I always remember how fucking scared I was that day and how helpless I felt. I don't ever want to feel like that again but to think it won't happen, well, I don't think we'll ever be that naive again. At least I hope not.
It was the most perfect day ever. The sky was a sharp blue that comes with cool temperatures and no humidity or clouds. It was a beautiful day. And I was late leaving the house.
I remember there was a big back up on Route 7 so I was going to turn around and go another way. I did a sort of u-turn at the light and nearly hit a guy turning right.
I was listening to Elliot in the Morning on DC101, which is sort of the local version of Howard Stern but not nearly as bad. Elliot is usually very snarky and on this morning, Elliot and his sidekick, Diane, were going on about a report of a plane hitting one of the towers. They assumed it was a small plane and then proceeded to go about how in the heck does a pilot not see the WTC? And then they got the word. It wasn't a small plane, it was a big plane. And then another plane hit. Ever felt totally helpless and cut off? Well, that's how I felt. I didn't turn around and go home--instead I went into work, driving as slow as the traffic around me. I think we were all on auto-pilot at that point because no one was speeding and no one was getting pissy about it, pretty amazing for this area. When I got into work, I didn't want to leave my car because I didn't want to leave the radio. When I finally did, I practically sprinted to my office where I have a short-wave radio. What really surprised me when I got to my group was how many people didn't know. Not everyone had a radio so they didn't know the planes hit or the towers fell. Not yet anyway. What came next was chaos. I recall listening to DC101, who had by then switched over the Peter Jennings (I'd just like to say that Elliot and Diane did an outstanding job reporting on the events), and there were all kinds of reports coming in: a bomb went off in front of the State Department, The old Executive building was on fire, the old USA Today building in Rosslyn was on fire--I mean it was a mess. At one point they mentioned that jets had been dispatched from Langley and were heading up to shoot down one more plane headed our way. They mentioned that one time and then never again.
At the time there were no cable news feeds on any of the TV's in our building (they've changed this in our new building) so we were left trying to get info from this one TV that only got two stations: something with that whackjob, Pat Robertson, and a Spanish station. After hearing the whackjob spout off about how this was all our fault, we switched over to the Spanish station. Unfortunately, we had no sound so even if someone in the room spoke Spanish, all we had were pictures. That didn't help our apprehension. To top it all off, we had people over in Arlington, near the Pentagon. They heard the crash and saw the smoke so they were already jumpy. The sonic boom from one of the jets overhead nearly killed them all. Thankfully, the ones who were still sticking it out, finally went home.
What I remember the most about that day was how, in one minute, the world changed. Our world changed. And it would never, ever be like it was. What I remember second was how quiet it became. I live near Dulles Airport. I'm immune to the sound of aircraft flying overhead but when that sound went away, the silence was...scary. I can't tell you how happy I was when the planes started flying again.
The thing about this area is that everyone knows someone who works or worked at the Pentagon. My dad was still in the Navy Reserves then and the plane hit the radio room, where he worked when he was on duty. He knew someone on the plane that hit the Pentagon and two people killed at the Pentagon. My company lost two employees who were also working there. I knew one of them.
Thinking about 9/11 always makes me sad, whether it's the first anniversary or the fifth. Maybe it's because I always remember how fucking scared I was that day and how helpless I felt. I don't ever want to feel like that again but to think it won't happen, well, I don't think we'll ever be that naive again. At least I hope not.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:20 pm (UTC)