story2708.xml

story2708.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I work on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. On September 11, 2001 I was living in Queens and I was on the E train heading to work. I was in a hurry because I was already running late when the train stopped at Queens Boulevard and just sat there. Eventually we were told to exit the subway. As I came above ground there were were people everywhere. I didn't pay much attention, this is NYC. I kept trying to get a bus into Manhattan because I was late for work and no one really knew what was going on. A bus driver told me "The WTC has been hit!" He even showed me the smoke billowing in the air. I didn't believe him. I told him to stop joking, that was impossible, I didn't have time for this, I was late for work. After attempting many times to find a bus I just stopped and I started to listen to everyone around me. They were all saying the same thing...we were under attack. I was shocked. I tried to call my boss, my friends, my mother but my cell phone was dead. I eventually made it home and I put on the television set. The second tower was falling right in front of my eyes. I tried to call my sister, she lived in Washington DC. I couldn't get through. My roomate had made it into work. I manned the phone lines at home. That Friday the two of us walked down Lexington to see what we could do to help. we signed up to volunteer with the Salvation Army, we read missing people posters, we looked for people we knew, we managed to push on......