story10880.xml

story10880.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-09-10

I was on my way into work when it all began. I had just arrived at work for my shift started at 9am. I worked for an outsource company so as I normally did, I sat down and turned on my radio. As I'm sitting there, the radio newsman came on with an important announcement. I remember listening to it and not believing it, thinking that this was just a joke or something. He announced that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I got up and told my co-workers this. Most of them took it with mild shock, thinking what a horrible accident. I returned to my desk and listened more, and I'll never forget the sound of the voice for the next event.

"Oh my God, another plane flew into the other tower."

The voice on the radio, was sickened at what they saw on their own TVs as they watched the second tower being struck. At that moment, the bottom of my stomach dropped. I was numb. I didn't know what was going on. By this point, I tried to go to various websites. CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Foxnews.com. I couldn't get to any site. I was finally able to log into MSNBC.com and saw the horrible flames in a still shot. I knew this was no accident. My co-workers at this point started to know something was going on. Hushed whispers going on. I stood up and looked at people milled about. This was definately not going to be a normal day at the office.

I don't remember exactly when, but I remember my office rolled out a TV they normally used for trainings and turned it on to one of the local stations. As the first images, for us in the office, of the whole ordeal, I was just glued to the set. No emotion. I couldn't feel anything. I guess my saving grace was that, as I worked on an inbound call center, I took some calls as they came in answering questions about people's invoices and charges. It was a distraction or what was really important. I know at one point, the person who sat next to me ran home and brought in a television of their own, and set it up on an empty desk behind me.

I remember standing there, watching everything. Everyone was so confused and unsure on anything at that time. Noone knew what was going on. And then, they stated the pentagon was just hit. The pit in my stomach dropped even further. What the hell is going on here? This is America! We don't have these problems. We don't have terrorists! That's something you hear about in Israel, not in the USA! I was scared. I was worried. What if we're next? What if the bridge I cross is next? What if I'm personally next?

As we're watching the news, I remember turning away as they announced the second tower came tumbling down. I couldn't watch. I couldn't see these symbols of strength come falling and crashing to the earth. I turned my back and heard the rumble come across through the TV speakers. I knew at that point the world changed. After a few seconds, I remember Tom Brokaw saying.

"They're gone. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. They're now gone."

We continued watching the rest of the day as people made guesses as to what happened and why. I finally ended my shift and went home. During all of this, I had forgotten that this was also my mother's birthday. I came home and saw her face. Saw her tears. I just ran over and hugged her.

Historians say that every generation has an event where people ask "where were you when this happened?" It happened with JFK being shot. It happened with the moon landing. It happened with stock market crash. And now, it's happened for me. Where was I on 9/11? I wish I didn't have to remember that day. I wish we had our innocence again. I wish that none of this ever happened. But now, three years later, it has happened. A memory which will never be forgotten.