9/11

I think there are a lot of people who saw this as a "NYC tragedy" and not something that impacted the whole country.

At the paper where I worked in 2001 the locals were livid that they had canceled college and pro games that weekend.

 

I was working in midtown Manhattan on 9/11 and was quickly sent home because I worked in an iconic building (and therefore a potential target). A few things I'll never forget from that day and those that followed:
* Feeling sheer terror about those half-dozen un-accounted for planes. Where do you run when you're under attack? Also, a night or two later, hearing reports that bomb sniffing dogs at the Empire State Building were “sitting down” in front of a suspicious package. (Apparently, the dogs are trained to sit when they sense explosives.)
* Going to the Red Cross to give blood and being turned away because there weren't enough survivors. Instead, we were given questionnaires so the city could ID people with other skills like speaking a foreign language – presumably to comfort families of the deceased.
* The stench that blew north a day later. It was such a mix of matter and so unfamiliar that no words could accurately describe except: toxic.
* The powerful unity of the people in New York in the days, weeks, and months later. I remember going to Central Park a few days after the attack and when a fire truck drove through - without saying a word - every single person in the Sheep Meadow stood up and applauded as it passed.
* Now that the stench is gone, locals are cursing at each other again, and violent movies and TV are being produced ad nauseum -- I still get a hairtrigger response every time I hear the roar of a low-flying plane. I guess it reminds me of all the fighter jets that were ordered to secure New York in the days and weeks afterwards.
* I'm also reminded of 9/11 every time I pass by a fire house. It seems every one of them has a plaque listing the names of the men lost, along with small piles of single flowers, children's drawings...it's impossible not to be moved.

 

I can't imagine anyone feeling that way.

The most vivid memories I have are of sitting in my brother's basement with a bunch of his friends a couple of days later, a room full of guys who never shut up and are never at a loss for words, watching the coverage of the aftermath and awkwardly making comments here and there to break a palpably uncomfortable silence. We all knew what we were thinking, but it was one of those times where expressing your feelings became incredibly difficult and felt almost insignificant. So we sat there, mostly numb, wondering what this new world was going to be like.

 

Those kinds of decisions always cause raw feelings because it's often hazy as to why you are canceling.

Out of respect? Well, fine. But you played baseball 6 days after the tragedy. You couldn't play football in 4 or 5? Who's to say where the line is drawn?

Out of logistics? Makes sense if travel was so screwed up around the country that getting everyone where they needed to be was impossible. But was that the case?

Out of fear? "Well, we really don't know what we're dealing with here, and we need to find a way to secure these stadiums better before we allow 100,000 people to gather."

And to be fair, after several days of sorrow and mourning, some people really wanted a release and a chance to feel "normal" again. Some may have made plans for that weekend that couldn't be changed. So being a little upset doesn't necessarily make them a bunch of insensitive yahoos.

 

Feeling "normal" again is exactly why people were "upset." I know it didn't want the NFL games to be cancelled, not because I didn't understand the enormity of the tragedy, but because from the moment the tragedy occurred, you were inundated with a wave of emotions that were hard to process. There was great uncertainty and fear about the future. That weighs heavy on anyone, and a day of meaningless football would have allowed millions to escape for just a little bit.

 

I slept in after a late-night of work. My phone kept ringing but I figured it was telemarketers so didn't answer; no one else ever called me in the morning. At about 1 I went out into my car.

I have my favorite classic rock station on but there's a press conference with airline executives on. Huh? Figured there was a big airplane crash, but even with that, this was a station that never broke in for anything, even airplane crashes.

Then I turned it to an AM station. I heard about September 11 from Ed Schultz, everyone's favorite MSNBC host, who was then a right-wing talk-show host in Fargo, best-known for being the play-by-play radio man for the University of North Dakota football team. He was yelling, "NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME! THE DAY AMERICA WAS ATTACKED!"

It turned out Ed was in D.C. that day so was reporting from near the Pentagon. It definitely wasn't the same for him. The months that followed raised his profile - as a righty - before his transformation.

I didn't see the TV images of it until going into the office around 4.

 

I have to get that. Never heard of it before.

 

I was a junior in high school, and classes pretty much stopped so we could stare at the TV and try to make sense of things. Except AP U.S. History with Mrs. Gaines. She said, "You can leave if you want, but we'll be having a lesson today." I didn't fully understand why, but I respect her more today, nine years later.

Man, nine years? It seems like longer than that. 2001 seems like it was just yesterday, but 9/11 and the six or seven days after -- when everything seemed to stop -- feels like eons ago. Maybe it's still to surreal to grasp; I don't know.

Yet everyone remembers it vividly. The Washington Post's #wherewereyou experiment is an intriguing look at how 300 million people shared one experience. I cannot talk to a friend about it without them recalling some of the most mundane details that stuck with them because they were attached to a harrowing, powerful moment. The grass was wetter with dew than usual. A friend had a cramp during cross-country practice.

Here's to those who died that unspeakably awful day and others who lost their lives in attacks such as 2005's Britain subway bombing.

Here's to the heroes that emerged from the tragedy: The emergency responders who ran into the buildings to save others; the passengers of United 93; the people who aided victims in New York and at the Pentagon; the troops that fought, and still fight, to make sure this doesn't happen again; the people who rushed to give blood, money, comfort, anything to those in need.

 

I can't believe it's already been nine years.

God bless!

 

Like some others, I was also trying to sleep in after having worked late the night before. My wife tried to wake me up after the first plane hit the WTC. I was thinking it was just some little stupid propeller plane that crash landed on top, there would be all sorts of coverage about it on the news that night, and went back to sleep.

Second plane hits WTC, and my wife tries to wake me up again, but I was so tired, I couldn't keep my eyes open for very long and nodded back off. Then the third plane hit the Pentagon, and my wife was like, "Baron, you really should get up to see this.", so I got up and began watching the coverage. Just as I did, the first WTC collapsed.

I remember yelling at the TV stations (dumb, I know), because there was so much smoke, and all they were showing was one far-away shot of the buildings in the distance. I rememeber feeling shock for a while, and then fear, once I heard about the plane that had crashed in Pa. The first time I felt any reassurance was when Tony Blair came on TV, condemning the attack, and saying how his country was standing with us. It made me feel good that at least there was someone out there who was aware of what we were going through. I've always been grateful to Blair for that announcement.

After a while, I told my wife I needed to get ready for work early, because I knew my paper was going to go all out on this. Almost as soon as I said that, my phone rang with my boss, telling me to come in the early afternoon. My wife thought I was psychic.

The other strange thing was, we were due to close on our house in a few weeks, and we had to take an already scheduled phone call from our lender to take a new homeowners' quiz. First they talked to my wife who told them about what was going on, then we agreed to get the call done with, then handed the phone to me. Lady at the other end asks, "Hi Mr. Scicluna, how are you today?" I respond, "Well, I've had better days." She chuckled, and talked about how everyone where she lives was praying for us. She had a real strong Southern accent, so I asked her where she was from (Mississippi), and she reiterated that everyone was feeling horrible for us.

Got through work that night, had a hectic few days there. My mom, through her work, had coincidentally, already scheduled a blood drive for the Friday after the attacks. The Red Cross ended up inudated with volunteer donors. I also remember attending a prayer service at my synagogue that week. Funny thing about that, we had a new rabbi, replacing the one that had retired after 40 years, and that was her first service. Talk about a fast initiation.

 

msnbc has been replaying the broadcast of the day in real time...still breathtaking to watch the reporting unfold.

I remember the threads on the old board (or the old old board, not sure)....our NY friends surfacing one by one like Horton Hears a Who, 'We are here! We are here!' And then reporting the horrible details of what they were experiencing.