story8978.xml
Title
story8978.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-01-20
911DA Story: Story
14 new messages on my answering machine and 23 missed calls on my cell phone. I had woken up at 8am L.A. time, and panic instantly set in. I had no idea what happened - I thought maybe a family member had died - until my husband turned on the television.
Now, I work in the Century Plaza Towers (used in the opening of "LA Law") here in L.A., and they look very much like a miniature World Trade Center. Since I am not familiar with New York, my first thought was that we were watching a movie of my building. When my husband said it was real and he started crying, I thought they were my buildings. I instantly called the office, fearing all of my co-workers dead. I was scared to death. My beautiful buildings, I cried. My friends. My lifeblood. At that moment I wanted to die myself rather than believe terrorism on this scale was even remotely possible. However, I have to admit that when I finally realized it was not Los Angeles but New York I was relieved...until the Today Show indicated that an estimated 50,000 people worked in the World Trade Center. I cried even harder, repeating why? Why? Why? over and over again. I wished it had been my buildings. I called Ana, my best friend who is a flight attendant with American Airlines and is based in Chicago but had flown to New York the day before. She had Sep. 11th off, but knew one flight attendant who she thought was on one of the planes. She cried and screamed and was completely incomprehensible for nearly an hour. I tried to be brave for her. We both had friends that worked for both American and United and did not know their fate.
For the rest of that awful day my family and I stood on our balcony and watched the Downtown Los Angeles Skyline in the near distance, numb from fear that we would be eyewitnesses to an attack on the West Coast. It was eerie beyond belief to have the TV on, with all the chaos and smoke and the horror of it all going on in New York, while my home skyline stood still and quiet and as beautiful as a picture postcard. I did not sleep that night, along with many others across America.
The next day I had to work, as we had people on flights that we had to reschedule. Let me tell you, driving up to the office - keep in mind it looks the the WTC to a point, but only 44 stories - was truly terrifying. I told my husband to turn the car around, and underneath my sunglasses my tears flowed in an unstoppable stream. I did not know anyone in New York. I just couldn't believe it...and I couldn't go to work, regardless of the fact that all airports were shut down. My desk is on a high floor and faces LAX, and I was sure that I would not have enough time to run if I saw the nose of a 727 looming in my windows. I thought I was going to die. I thought my husband was going to die...he works in a hotel where the King of Jordan happened to be staying, and since Osama Bin Laden and he are enemies, I thought the hotel was going to be blown up. I feared a lot of things, but I eventually went to work after putting on a brave face.
On September 13th, I was at work and on the phone when the power suddenly went out. Normally I would have been just annoyed, but not this time. I called my husband and said goodbye. I put him into a total panic because I had told him that when I looked out of my office windows, there were hundreds of people streaming from my building, running and crying into all directions and even into oncoming traffic. It was a nightmare. Being on a high floor, I ruled out jumping and instead headed for the stairs. I was the last one out of my office because I had made that call. People were crying and running down the stairs. I was two blocks away before I breathed again.
...All this because the Department of Water and Power decided to reset the power in our building and not notify a one of us, and the building management had not thought to tell us because it was kind of routine - except it was usually done after hours. Just not this time.
The Oprah Windfrey show happened to be taking some tape of our buildings at that time and were caught off-guard. The reason I know this is because about an hour after this chaos I decided to go home, and they were on the sidewalk interviewing people. They interviewed me for ten minutes. All my friends saw me on Oprah the next week during their World Trade center special, during the segment about how we West-Coasters felt about the tragedy...I had a good minute or two of airtime.
Now, I work in the Century Plaza Towers (used in the opening of "LA Law") here in L.A., and they look very much like a miniature World Trade Center. Since I am not familiar with New York, my first thought was that we were watching a movie of my building. When my husband said it was real and he started crying, I thought they were my buildings. I instantly called the office, fearing all of my co-workers dead. I was scared to death. My beautiful buildings, I cried. My friends. My lifeblood. At that moment I wanted to die myself rather than believe terrorism on this scale was even remotely possible. However, I have to admit that when I finally realized it was not Los Angeles but New York I was relieved...until the Today Show indicated that an estimated 50,000 people worked in the World Trade Center. I cried even harder, repeating why? Why? Why? over and over again. I wished it had been my buildings. I called Ana, my best friend who is a flight attendant with American Airlines and is based in Chicago but had flown to New York the day before. She had Sep. 11th off, but knew one flight attendant who she thought was on one of the planes. She cried and screamed and was completely incomprehensible for nearly an hour. I tried to be brave for her. We both had friends that worked for both American and United and did not know their fate.
For the rest of that awful day my family and I stood on our balcony and watched the Downtown Los Angeles Skyline in the near distance, numb from fear that we would be eyewitnesses to an attack on the West Coast. It was eerie beyond belief to have the TV on, with all the chaos and smoke and the horror of it all going on in New York, while my home skyline stood still and quiet and as beautiful as a picture postcard. I did not sleep that night, along with many others across America.
The next day I had to work, as we had people on flights that we had to reschedule. Let me tell you, driving up to the office - keep in mind it looks the the WTC to a point, but only 44 stories - was truly terrifying. I told my husband to turn the car around, and underneath my sunglasses my tears flowed in an unstoppable stream. I did not know anyone in New York. I just couldn't believe it...and I couldn't go to work, regardless of the fact that all airports were shut down. My desk is on a high floor and faces LAX, and I was sure that I would not have enough time to run if I saw the nose of a 727 looming in my windows. I thought I was going to die. I thought my husband was going to die...he works in a hotel where the King of Jordan happened to be staying, and since Osama Bin Laden and he are enemies, I thought the hotel was going to be blown up. I feared a lot of things, but I eventually went to work after putting on a brave face.
On September 13th, I was at work and on the phone when the power suddenly went out. Normally I would have been just annoyed, but not this time. I called my husband and said goodbye. I put him into a total panic because I had told him that when I looked out of my office windows, there were hundreds of people streaming from my building, running and crying into all directions and even into oncoming traffic. It was a nightmare. Being on a high floor, I ruled out jumping and instead headed for the stairs. I was the last one out of my office because I had made that call. People were crying and running down the stairs. I was two blocks away before I breathed again.
...All this because the Department of Water and Power decided to reset the power in our building and not notify a one of us, and the building management had not thought to tell us because it was kind of routine - except it was usually done after hours. Just not this time.
The Oprah Windfrey show happened to be taking some tape of our buildings at that time and were caught off-guard. The reason I know this is because about an hour after this chaos I decided to go home, and they were on the sidewalk interviewing people. They interviewed me for ten minutes. All my friends saw me on Oprah the next week during their World Trade center special, during the segment about how we West-Coasters felt about the tragedy...I had a good minute or two of airtime.
Collection
Citation
“story8978.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 13, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/6269.