story6388.xml

story6388.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

It was like any other weekday. I was on my way to work in the area. As I arrived the Credit Manager asked me why I was in the office. I sarcastically responded by saying that "I came to work just like I do everyday". He then said that he was referring to the fact that I was supposed to be at my company's disaster recovery test in Jersey City. I suddenly realized that I had goofed. So I said I would grab a quick cup of coffee and head to the Trade Center to catch the Path train over to Jersey City. It was still before nine so I would only be late about a half hour. So I went to our kitchen to get a cup of coffee. The company's Controller then walked into the kitchen and asked me if I had heard the news. "An airplane had just crashed into the Trade Center". I immediately thought of the fact that I was supposed to be at the trade center around that time to meet the other members of the disaster recovery test. We had a TV in the office which we turned on to see the news. Shortly after turning on the TV a second plane could be seen approaching the second tower. All of us froze as we stared at what couldn't possibly be, then suddenly the impact. I suddenly realized how lucky I was to have had forgotten my appointment. The other members of the group luckily left without me to the recovery site just before the first plane hit. However, we did have four employees who lost five family members a husband. a brother in law, an uncle, a nephew and a son-in-law. This was quite a shock for us all especially since we were only a staff of 33 people. It didn't seem possible that being such a small company that we could be affected so greatly. A year later I still get very emotional about the senseless loss of innocent lives and I can't understand how these Al Qaeda individuals can think that by killing all these people it would help their cause.