I was heading to work to the corporate grind, listening to tunes ... a good song ended and I surfed stations while pulling into parking lot of the monolithic corporation ... and briefly heard: plane slammed into World Trade Center! I imagined the least (not the most) ... imagined just a little tiny airplane, like the little gnat bi-plane that had hit USA White House (president's residence) years before).
Arrived at work early, bought cup of coffee, and saw so many people huddled around the T.V. in cafeteria, and I said, "WTF?". They told me about the jet plane (what...whoa - a JET!?) had crashed, then that a 2nd jet had crashed into 2nd tower (what .. a 2nd JET!) O.K., now that's clearly an attack - no accident, .... and then we watched on as 1st tower fell. Didn't get much work done that day...
Personal? It's all personal to any American. Near misses?
* one cousin was/is a United Airlines stewardess on Flight 93 (the one that crashed in Pennsylvania farm field, famous for the businessmen who fought back the hijackers) - she (my cousin) had been on board Flight 93 the day before - and ended up stranded in California for a few days.
* another cousin works at CDC - Centers for Disease Control -- an alleged target. CDC sent everyone home before noon; plane didn't hit CDC because all planes were grounded.
* Co-worker at adv agency in New York that day -- hotel 3 blocks away ... she was OK.
* One year later, a new co-worker shared that he had been in South Tower (2nd tower to be hit) on 9/11/01. At the time he worked for a Temporary Employment Agency, pretty much by himself, filing or alphabetizing this or that. Adam vividly described what was playing over the loud-speaker at the time, something to the effect of: "Don't worry. Please return to your desks. The situation has been contained to the North Tower." ...Adam just WALKED OFF!! Good for him ... walked all the way over the bridge to New Jersey, well ahead of the pack.
That's my story.
Horrible loss of life. "Six degrees of separation" came in clear focus. Couldn't help but feel horrible about all the poor souls that died for no reason at all, and all the close calls, and connections.
I'll admit that the event didn't totally "shake my soul". (Uh, many Americans were shattered by the event) I was not. I'm pretty much already shattered by life anyway. Also, I follow international news way more closely than most Americans (on alternative new stations - not mainstream) and personally feel so many horrible genocides and massacres and horror.
That's where I was -- YIKES! another lighthearted post by Puddy... NOT!
Comment