story4010.xml

story4010.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I got up and began getting ready for work, as usual. I noticed, on my computer, that there was something about an airplane that had hit the WTC. I guess I wasn't awake yet, because it didn't register as significant. I got to work and my boss asked if I knew what had happened. I told him that I'd heard something about it. He told me to turn on the TV in the store, because it was much bigger than I thought. By this time both towers had already collapsed. Initially, I couldn't comprehend was I was seeing. Then, as the images on TV were repeated, I began to understand the devastation of that day. I immediatly called my fiance and told her to turn on the TV, that the WTC was gone. Like me, she didn't understand what was happening. I continued to watch the TV, with no argument from my boss. For half that day, I tried to do my job, but I couldn't concentrate on anything but the events of that day. I found myself at the point of tears for most of the day. I somehow made it through the day, but found that I was uneasy driving near downtown with all the tall buildings around me. I also had near panic attacks driving through tunnels. I was also very uncomfortable with the eerie emptiness of the sky. We live in the landing path for SeaTac airport and are used to planes flying over. My fears have dissipated with time, but I still have difficulty bringing up the memories of that awful day.