story9058.xml
Title
story9058.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-02-14
911DA Story: Story
I live in Woodside with my wife. I had returned to New York after living in California for several years. I've been through the earthquake of 1989, the first WTC bombing, my first marriage and a few more incidents so I must admit before the immensity of what had occured dawned on me I was a bit jaded with disasters.
At 8:48AM, I had just gotten off the 'F' train at West 4th Street and was heading up to my job on Hudson St. At 7th Avenue, I noticed one of the guys from Black Belt Locksmiths staring at some smoke coming from one of the towers.
"What the Hell is happening now?" I asked.
"Some idiot smashed thier plane into the tower." he replied.
At the time, we were both under the impression that it was a smaller plane that had hit, as the view didn't really show much damage besides the smoke. I recalled someone flying into the Emipre State building years ago, and brushed the incident as stupidity. The building was certainly damaged and some people were most likely dead, but nothing too out of the ordinary for New York. Like I said, jaded.
Arriving at work, I noticed a bunch of the others surrounding the T.V. and that CNN was broadcasting coverage of the crash. I mentioned that I saw the building, and they said no, the other one was just hit too.
There was some time after that in which my mind couldn't exactly put it all together; how could 2 planes do the same stupid thing? I suppose the idea that the planes were deliberately flown into the buildings was still nuts to me at the time. Then the Pentagon got hit. That was it. Everybody starting boing bonkers, trying to figure out how they were going to get out of the city.
Outside, people were coming from downtown coverd in ashes and debris, looking like war refugees. City vehicles were trying to head downtown on the same street, causing jams sometimes. I'm surprised nobody got run over. Some vehicles coming back from downtown had people hanging off the, others looked like a bunch of debris had fallen on them.
The smoke was the worst thing. The sky seemed dark. And it just didn't stop coming.
One of the executives had a sister living across from City Hall and was scared for her, so she and her husband split. Then some of the others were going to try and drive out of the city. Next a few more headed for the trains. Finally, at around 2:00 PM I left myself, taking the 'Q' to the bridge stop in Queens and walking to the '7'. I don't know why, because although I do believe in God I don't have much of a religious inclination, I went to church and prayed before I went home. I cried, but I don't know why. Not even now. I don't need to have it explained to me. I'm kind of in tune with myself and sort of have an idea of where it came from. It's just been a long time since I cried out of helplessness.
Today we still live in Woodside. We're expecting a baby in July. I'm still working downtown at the same job, but I'm hoping to pass the FDNY EMT exams and work on a bus helping people. I've been a volunteer with Central Park Medical Unit for about a year now (donations accepted at www.cpmu.com), but want to make a job of it as well now.
Friends ask me why I want to do that sort of thing; was it because of 9/11? No and yes.
I had wanted to be an EMT since I was living in San Francisco, back in 1992. I never followed through because I was never really motivated.
Now, I WANT to do this. Where that came from, I don't know. Some of it may have to do with the world we live in now, some just out of finally getting off my ass and doing it.
What still gets to me sometimes is how it really does feel like the world has changed. You hear about old-timers talk about how different things were back in thier days and I guess I never thought things would change that dramatically.
How do I tell my kid about how life was like before the 21st century, before Code Oranges and shuttle disasters and gang wars? Will they even believe me?
I feel old sometimes. I wonder if part of that comes from living through these sort of things.
John D. Knox
February 14, 2003
At 8:48AM, I had just gotten off the 'F' train at West 4th Street and was heading up to my job on Hudson St. At 7th Avenue, I noticed one of the guys from Black Belt Locksmiths staring at some smoke coming from one of the towers.
"What the Hell is happening now?" I asked.
"Some idiot smashed thier plane into the tower." he replied.
At the time, we were both under the impression that it was a smaller plane that had hit, as the view didn't really show much damage besides the smoke. I recalled someone flying into the Emipre State building years ago, and brushed the incident as stupidity. The building was certainly damaged and some people were most likely dead, but nothing too out of the ordinary for New York. Like I said, jaded.
Arriving at work, I noticed a bunch of the others surrounding the T.V. and that CNN was broadcasting coverage of the crash. I mentioned that I saw the building, and they said no, the other one was just hit too.
There was some time after that in which my mind couldn't exactly put it all together; how could 2 planes do the same stupid thing? I suppose the idea that the planes were deliberately flown into the buildings was still nuts to me at the time. Then the Pentagon got hit. That was it. Everybody starting boing bonkers, trying to figure out how they were going to get out of the city.
Outside, people were coming from downtown coverd in ashes and debris, looking like war refugees. City vehicles were trying to head downtown on the same street, causing jams sometimes. I'm surprised nobody got run over. Some vehicles coming back from downtown had people hanging off the, others looked like a bunch of debris had fallen on them.
The smoke was the worst thing. The sky seemed dark. And it just didn't stop coming.
One of the executives had a sister living across from City Hall and was scared for her, so she and her husband split. Then some of the others were going to try and drive out of the city. Next a few more headed for the trains. Finally, at around 2:00 PM I left myself, taking the 'Q' to the bridge stop in Queens and walking to the '7'. I don't know why, because although I do believe in God I don't have much of a religious inclination, I went to church and prayed before I went home. I cried, but I don't know why. Not even now. I don't need to have it explained to me. I'm kind of in tune with myself and sort of have an idea of where it came from. It's just been a long time since I cried out of helplessness.
Today we still live in Woodside. We're expecting a baby in July. I'm still working downtown at the same job, but I'm hoping to pass the FDNY EMT exams and work on a bus helping people. I've been a volunteer with Central Park Medical Unit for about a year now (donations accepted at www.cpmu.com), but want to make a job of it as well now.
Friends ask me why I want to do that sort of thing; was it because of 9/11? No and yes.
I had wanted to be an EMT since I was living in San Francisco, back in 1992. I never followed through because I was never really motivated.
Now, I WANT to do this. Where that came from, I don't know. Some of it may have to do with the world we live in now, some just out of finally getting off my ass and doing it.
What still gets to me sometimes is how it really does feel like the world has changed. You hear about old-timers talk about how different things were back in thier days and I guess I never thought things would change that dramatically.
How do I tell my kid about how life was like before the 21st century, before Code Oranges and shuttle disasters and gang wars? Will they even believe me?
I feel old sometimes. I wonder if part of that comes from living through these sort of things.
John D. Knox
February 14, 2003
Collection
Citation
“story9058.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 26, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5268.