Monday, September 11, 2006

Five Years Later

Since you are undoubtedly being bombarded with 9/11 crap today, I think I'll pile on as well. Five years ago today I was sitting at my desk when my secretary came into my office to tell me that my aunt had just called and that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. Really? I didn't think much about it because she said plane, not airliner.

Shortly after, she returned to my office to tell me that a second plane had flown into the other tower and it was some kind of attack. I believe my response was probably something like, "Oh, she's on fucking crack," but like always curiosity got the best of me and I tried to load CNN.com. Nothing happened. It was the same with every news source I tried. The servers were all melted down with too much traffic. I knew at that point something really bad was occurring. I finally found a website that confirmed the news to me, I think it was a local Houston TV station.

A horrible thought then crossed my mind, my parents were traveling that day. I immediately grabbed the phone and called my father. They were obviously fine and my dad told me these buildings are coming down. "What," i said? Those things are designed to stand up to a 747 hitting them and these planes aren't that big. "It's not the impact, it's the heat," he said.

At that point I told my secretary that I was taking an early lunch and headed to a bar that opens early in the day so I could find a TV to watch. As I walked in there was a collective gasp. The South Tower had just went down. I couldn't believe it. I ordered a water and just sat down. I was dumbfounded.

The really weird thing was that I didn't feel any emotion at the time. No sadness, no anger, nothing. I guess I was just kind of in shock. I watched the replays over and over as everyone else did. It was mesmerizing. I've heard some people describe it as tragedy porn.

I then heard a report that the FAA believed as many as fourteen or fifteen might have been hi-jacked. Of fuck, I thought. Bush is going to have to give the order to shoot down American airliners. Luckily it didn't have to come to that.

I went home and, it's weird how you react in these situation. I took a black suit to the cleaners as I know people that work both in and near the Twin Towers. Fortunately I didn't need to wear it. I never even went to pick it back up.

I went to a bar that night and literally every regular was there. Some were crying, some were swearing. I looked at a friend of mine and reminded him of what I had told him the previous December when the presidential election was finally settled. I had told him that I hope nothing really bad happens in the next few years because this guy isn't up for the job if it does. Something bad just happened and God only knows where this dumb ass will take us.

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