story7398.xml

story7398.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-14

My office building is directly next to the WTC Plaza and 7 WTC is right behind us. I was already working in my corner window cubicle when a co-worker said a plane crashed into the WTC. We just stood and watched what happened. We were so close to the WTC that I could tell you the color and style of the clothes that the people where wearing when they jumped out of the windows. It's true that there was one man and woman who held hands while they jumped. One of my employees was counting out loud how many people were jumping that I had to tell him to stop. I was so distraught that I kept crying out "they are just regular working people like us". The cell phones went dead right away but our office phones were working. I was able to reach my husband, my parents weren't home and my sister, a Police Officer was on duty. We were instructed to remain in our building after the first crashed and remained so until after the second crash then we were told to leave. I was the last one off of my floor, I ran back to switch from my heels into my sneakers. We walked down the stairs and out onto Church Street, the police and FBI were already there. They kept yelling run and don't look. I went down the block of the Woolworth Building and stopped and turned and could not believe my eyes. A policewoman said to keep going that the buildings were going to collapse. I thought to myself what a stupid thing for her to say because she will frighten people more. I made my way to Broadway and located some of my employees. I told them to go home any way they could and not to worry about the day's pay. I kept walking up and down Broadwy. The smaller buildings of the WTC were on fire. I had planned to visit the Godiva Shop at the WTC during the 10am break to buy some chocolate for my sister because we had Broadway tickets that night and she likes the truffles. There was little instruction about what to do when we reached Broadway, everybody was left uo to their own. I went across City Hall Park to the Brooklyn Bridge, all along trying to get the cell phone to work, yelling, "hello, hello" into it but it never worked. I left it on in case my family might be able to call me. I went to the Brooklyn Bridge and sat on the cement wall, just watching the WTC burn. The bridge was packed with people. There were some cars on the street crossing over who just opened their doors and let people hop in for a ride across the bridge. One yellow taxi wanted to charge and the people began yelling at him. Eventually I got up and started to walk across the bridge. The first tower then fell. People started screamming and running across the bridge. The people further up did not realize what happened, they couldn't understand why everybody was running. About halfway across the second tower fell. I just starting crying like crazy. A strange women was doing the same thing and we just put our arms around yet other and cried across the bridge, trying to reassure each other. I don't remember her name. We only had a few words of normalcy. At the end of the bridge we parted ways. I bought a bottle of water from the coffee cart and rinsed my eyes which were burning. I had a light layer of dust all over me. I just kept walking. There were buses running in Brooklyn but they were all packed and nobody was sure exactly what street they were going down. By this time must of the businesses in Brooklyn were closing up. I found a pay phone with a small line and called my husband, he wasn't home but I told him I would begin walking down Flatbush Avenue towards Prospect Park. I asked a copy store if I could use their bathroom, it was there that I found out about the Pentagon. I kept going down Flatbush Avenue, the sun was strong and hot. I stopped at a local bar, bought a shot of Scotch, downed it in two gulps and was out the door. It was all over the TVs. I finally walked to Prospect Park, I called and left a message again for my husband. He finally got the message, he was driving all around trying to find me. The top part of Flatbush Avenue was closed to traffic. He put me in the car and told me to be quite. He drove me home. He told me to call my family since they called and were worried about me. I made some calls, and received calls from people from around the world who were concerned about me and my husband. I spent the rest of the day on the couch glued to the TV. I went to bed. In the morning I had no office to go to. My office building is still standing but not habitable. They have to do a gut job, it is expected we will be allowed to return around August 2004. After being move several times my staff and I work in a small cinder block room in Manhattan.