story35.xml

story35.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-02-04

I threw a can into the empty trash can. It clattered and, simultaneously, I heard a huge explosion from somewhere outside the building.

I later found out the explosion was the plane hitting the Pentagon perhaps five miles from the office. But at the time, I kept on working. For some reason, around 11:30, I got up and looked out the window. The parking lot was empty except for my woebegon minivan.

We'd been evacuated except for a couple of key people who stayed to answer non-stop phone calls about the attacks--and me, who'd been forgotten.

I stayed at work too, waiting to pick up my son from high school, not afraid, wanting to help but not knowing how, answering phones, clicking back and forth among on-line news sources and listening to the radio.

At home, my son and I watched television non-stop until sometime the following evening. I even kept it on when I finally fell asleep. I cried and felt awe for people's courage. Especially for the bravery of passengers on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.

People from across the country called to be sure we were safe since we live in the Washington area.

My brother called often. He is a civilian who has worked for almost 20 years in a top secret security branch of the Department of the Navy. Although his offices are currently in Maryland, many of his long-term colleagues were moving into the section of the Pentagon the plane hit. He didn't know for days if his friends were casualties and he kept watch as well with one co-worker whose daughter worked in the World Trade Center.

By early afternoon they found out she'd overslept and planned to come to work late and so she was safe.

Has September 11 changed everything as we often hear? I'm not wise enough to know. What I fear it has done is to warp patriotism into isolationism. It's a cliche, but it's true: people die by tens of thousands all over the planet everyday from terrorism--from tribal and ethnic warfare, oppression, starvation and disease.

But in America we mostly seem to experience this world order second-hand. September 11 brought the everyday lives of people in strife-torn countries into focus a little. But rather than increasing our understanding of how much of the world's population lives, I am afraid of the narrow anti-terrorist agenda articulated for this country. While the outreach is global, the motives appear selective, unilateral and terribly selfish. I hope I am wrong.