story4991.xml
Title
story4991.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
At about 8:15 am CST, I dropped my nephew off at his school, and was told by one of the other moms in the school parking lot that it was all over the news that a plane had flown into a "skyscraper" in New York City. This would've been right after the first plane hit the towers.
I went on to my office, about 5 minutes away, and we put the radio on. At this point, we all still thought it was some sort of freak accident. A few minutes later, when the second plane hit, we realized that this was a lot more than an accident.
My boss put the TV on in her office, and we proceeded to wander back & forth from our desks to the TV all morning. Everytime some new development happened (the crash at the Pentagon, the collapse of the towers), my boss would cry out and we'd all go to the door of her office to see what was up.
I remember feeling shock & disbelief. My first thought was to try to call New York, to see if my friend who lives in NYC was OK. Not being able to get thru on the phone. Contacting her family here in Chicago, and then the waiting & worrying until we knew that she wasn't involved.
Everyone one in the office was numb. No one "could believe" that it was happening, even tho we saw it with our eyes on the screen. The older of our co-workers, from the Korean War generation, breaking down in tears. (They tend to be more patriotic than the "boomers" and "X-ers", and they grew up in an America that seemed invulnerable.) Sadness. Shock. Anger. A desire for vengeance. A profound feeling that, as a nation, we had been deeply violated, and would more similiar events keep happening? A dread that the next news we heard would be that a plane had crashed into the John Hancock Center in the Chicago Loop or into O'Hare Airport (a scant mile away from our building).
A few days to a week later- will we go to war? Call-Ups of our friends who are in the reserves, overseas deployments of our friends & relatives & clients who are in the armed forces. The feeling that a really big war could develop, and yes, it's necessary, but will it be a bigger deal than we are really ready to deal with, and where will it all end?
A year later, the dread is gone. The pride in our police and firefighters remains, as does the pride in our armed forces personnel. At least, we think the fear is gone. Until one of our suppliers calls in and offers four tickets to go see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field on Weds 9-11-2002, and no one wants to "take the chance" of going downtown, for fear that our enemies have planned some sort of anniversary stunt. Listening to the observances on the TV all day, tensely, hoping that a bulletin won't burst onto the screen about an explosion in NYC or Wash DC or Chicago. Looking at your co-workers around the lunch table, hearing someone comment that everyone seems to be in a bad mood today, and responding that "well, it's almost 1 pm, and so far no one's blown anything up", and being profoundly grateful that this is so.
I went on to my office, about 5 minutes away, and we put the radio on. At this point, we all still thought it was some sort of freak accident. A few minutes later, when the second plane hit, we realized that this was a lot more than an accident.
My boss put the TV on in her office, and we proceeded to wander back & forth from our desks to the TV all morning. Everytime some new development happened (the crash at the Pentagon, the collapse of the towers), my boss would cry out and we'd all go to the door of her office to see what was up.
I remember feeling shock & disbelief. My first thought was to try to call New York, to see if my friend who lives in NYC was OK. Not being able to get thru on the phone. Contacting her family here in Chicago, and then the waiting & worrying until we knew that she wasn't involved.
Everyone one in the office was numb. No one "could believe" that it was happening, even tho we saw it with our eyes on the screen. The older of our co-workers, from the Korean War generation, breaking down in tears. (They tend to be more patriotic than the "boomers" and "X-ers", and they grew up in an America that seemed invulnerable.) Sadness. Shock. Anger. A desire for vengeance. A profound feeling that, as a nation, we had been deeply violated, and would more similiar events keep happening? A dread that the next news we heard would be that a plane had crashed into the John Hancock Center in the Chicago Loop or into O'Hare Airport (a scant mile away from our building).
A few days to a week later- will we go to war? Call-Ups of our friends who are in the reserves, overseas deployments of our friends & relatives & clients who are in the armed forces. The feeling that a really big war could develop, and yes, it's necessary, but will it be a bigger deal than we are really ready to deal with, and where will it all end?
A year later, the dread is gone. The pride in our police and firefighters remains, as does the pride in our armed forces personnel. At least, we think the fear is gone. Until one of our suppliers calls in and offers four tickets to go see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field on Weds 9-11-2002, and no one wants to "take the chance" of going downtown, for fear that our enemies have planned some sort of anniversary stunt. Listening to the observances on the TV all day, tensely, hoping that a bulletin won't burst onto the screen about an explosion in NYC or Wash DC or Chicago. Looking at your co-workers around the lunch table, hearing someone comment that everyone seems to be in a bad mood today, and responding that "well, it's almost 1 pm, and so far no one's blown anything up", and being profoundly grateful that this is so.
Collection
Citation
“story4991.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 4, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5143.