story6664.xml

story6664.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I had just dropped my 11 month old son, Derrick, off at daycare. I got back into my car, and a popular radio show, Mancow's morning madhouse, was on.

They were talking about a terrible accident in which a plane had just hit one of the twin towers. The radio show "crew" was watching the coverage on TV, when they all started screaming "another plane just hit the other tower! Oh, my god!" This radio show is famous for jokes and pranks...I thought "this can't be real!"

I switched to another radio station, and found that it was, indeed, real. I listened as I drove to work, numb with shock, and ran into my building to tell my coworkers. They had all heard about the first plane, but not the second. They were trying to tell me, no, I was wrong, it was just one.

There was a TV in one of the break rooms...some of us went there and found the room as full as it could be, all eyes glued to the TV.

I went back to my desk and called my mother. She, too, was at work in a small electronics store. I said "Hi, are you watching TV?" She said no and I asked her to turn it on. She did, and was silent...I told her what I knew so far. I said "mom, we are under attack." I told her that I wanted to call my husband, so I would let her go. I told her I love her and she said she loves me, too. I then called my husband & left a message on the cell phone. Then, I called my babysitter and asked her to turn on the TV and give my son a huge hug for me, and called my mother-in-law and told her about it. She was still asleep - what a horrible way to wake up. At first she didn't believe what I was telling her.

After making the calls, I went back to the break room & watched the TV in horror. We discussed that it had to be an attack, and how many people were in those buildings. Then, the pentagon got hit, and they said there was another plane that had been hijacked. Fear coursed through me and I felt helpless - what was going to be hit next? How many more were there? I wanted to run but could not move.

I was watching, live, as the first tower crashed to the ground. I felt sick to my stomach...watching thousands of innocent people die right there on the screen.

We then heard that the 4th plane had crashed in a field in PA - relief at the news, but the fear that there could be more was still there.

I spent most of the day watching TV, talking on the phone to loved ones, or checking internet news. I e-mailed friends who live in NYC to see if they were ok. I left work early, and went straight to pick up my son. I don't think I let go of him the rest of the night, and we watched the news all evening. It was overwhelming.

I wanted, like most, to do something to help. I felt helpless, dreadful sorrow. I was afraid for my family's future, our countries future...I had just witnessed what I still believe to be the beginning of World War III.