story55.xml
Title
story55.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-02-12
911DA Story: Story
[This is a slightly edited version of a journal entry I wrote in the early evening of September 11.]
My plan for today was to walk to the Rayburn House Office Building for a haircut, then take Metro to George Washington University, where I would scan some of my 35mm slides of Washington and print them out as color overhead transparencies for use in class. After that, I would stay in the GW Library & finish up my lecture for tomorrow.
My first hint that something was up was the sight of police vehicles & camera crews blocking off East Capitol Street at 2d. Filming a shot for "The West Wing" perhaps? I detoured down to Independence. More police. A motorcade? At 1st and Independence, they weren't even letting pedestrians pass. After a few minutes, it became clear that something bad had happened--maybe a bomb threat--and that I wasn't going to get my haircut or my Metro ride. I headed home, planning to fetch my bicycle and ride it to GW.
On returning home, I turned on the TV, in hopes of finding out something about Metro. Only then did I see footage of a burning Pentagon. It took me a very long time to figure out what was going on--ABC News preferred to interview eyewitnesses and talking heads, rather than recapping the who, what, where, and when, that three hijacked airplanes had crashed into great buildings. And even as I started to piece together the story, I remained in denial. OK, so a plane flew _toward_ the Pentagon, but surely that burning building on TV isn't the Pentagon itself. That footage labeled "New York," with smoke rising from Lower Manhattan, that's stock footage from 1993, right? No, it's live. But when they say the Twin Towers collapsed, they mean just the top stories, yes?
No. I sat on the couch and watched the television, and after dozens of viewings of the Trade Center's being hit by the 2d airplane and then collapsing--shot from many angles, each astounding--could I believe what I was seeing. Even now, I can't imagine riding the train into New York without seeing those towers. Or that the nice young woman from the Defense Department whom I met at the party three weeks ago might now be dead.
There was actually very little for me to do today. Both the Library of Congress & GW's library were closed, separating me from my lecture preparation. There were a flurry of calls to and from family and friends. R [my wife] called at 12:30. She had been at a firm retreat in Westchester, and I knew she wasn't due into New York City until the afternoon, so I had little fear that she was in danger. But it was good of her to check in. (I missed the call, but got the voice mail.) Steve sent e-mail from Minnesota, asking if we were OK. So did my cousin Joanna, writing from Hungary.
Eventually, I settled down and did a little bit of work, plus some laundry. Miss Kitty had a fine day, curling up on my lap as I watched TV.
I don't know what happens next. Tomorrow I face my students--my first overhead will be a picture of the White House, gutted after being set aflame by the British in 1814. I wonder about the future of Washington & New York. Will NYC have the sense _not_ to rebuild the World Trade Center, generally disparaged by planners as too much of a single use? Will National Airport ever reopen, or will it be closed so that all of Washington can be turned into a no-fly zone? And how can I ever again put Rebecca on an airplane?
Before I knew what was happening, I thougth a bike ride to GW might actually be quite nice. After all, the weather today was perfect.
My plan for today was to walk to the Rayburn House Office Building for a haircut, then take Metro to George Washington University, where I would scan some of my 35mm slides of Washington and print them out as color overhead transparencies for use in class. After that, I would stay in the GW Library & finish up my lecture for tomorrow.
My first hint that something was up was the sight of police vehicles & camera crews blocking off East Capitol Street at 2d. Filming a shot for "The West Wing" perhaps? I detoured down to Independence. More police. A motorcade? At 1st and Independence, they weren't even letting pedestrians pass. After a few minutes, it became clear that something bad had happened--maybe a bomb threat--and that I wasn't going to get my haircut or my Metro ride. I headed home, planning to fetch my bicycle and ride it to GW.
On returning home, I turned on the TV, in hopes of finding out something about Metro. Only then did I see footage of a burning Pentagon. It took me a very long time to figure out what was going on--ABC News preferred to interview eyewitnesses and talking heads, rather than recapping the who, what, where, and when, that three hijacked airplanes had crashed into great buildings. And even as I started to piece together the story, I remained in denial. OK, so a plane flew _toward_ the Pentagon, but surely that burning building on TV isn't the Pentagon itself. That footage labeled "New York," with smoke rising from Lower Manhattan, that's stock footage from 1993, right? No, it's live. But when they say the Twin Towers collapsed, they mean just the top stories, yes?
No. I sat on the couch and watched the television, and after dozens of viewings of the Trade Center's being hit by the 2d airplane and then collapsing--shot from many angles, each astounding--could I believe what I was seeing. Even now, I can't imagine riding the train into New York without seeing those towers. Or that the nice young woman from the Defense Department whom I met at the party three weeks ago might now be dead.
There was actually very little for me to do today. Both the Library of Congress & GW's library were closed, separating me from my lecture preparation. There were a flurry of calls to and from family and friends. R [my wife] called at 12:30. She had been at a firm retreat in Westchester, and I knew she wasn't due into New York City until the afternoon, so I had little fear that she was in danger. But it was good of her to check in. (I missed the call, but got the voice mail.) Steve sent e-mail from Minnesota, asking if we were OK. So did my cousin Joanna, writing from Hungary.
Eventually, I settled down and did a little bit of work, plus some laundry. Miss Kitty had a fine day, curling up on my lap as I watched TV.
I don't know what happens next. Tomorrow I face my students--my first overhead will be a picture of the White House, gutted after being set aflame by the British in 1814. I wonder about the future of Washington & New York. Will NYC have the sense _not_ to rebuild the World Trade Center, generally disparaged by planners as too much of a single use? Will National Airport ever reopen, or will it be closed so that all of Washington can be turned into a no-fly zone? And how can I ever again put Rebecca on an airplane?
Before I knew what was happening, I thougth a bike ride to GW might actually be quite nice. After all, the weather today was perfect.
Collection
Citation
“story55.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 8, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12211.