story3154.xml
Title
story3154.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
September 11, 2001 was just another day of work for me. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it since the job I had wasn't my forte, however it was a job to supplement income for myself and to assist my wife.
I was working with electricians at the time to help add a new building to Giant's headquarters... we we're in the phase of laying PVC pipe in the ground. I was just praying the day would go by quick.
Working in the construction industry I wasn't at liberty to answer my cell phone whenever it rang, although I always had it on wherever I went and thus depended on it at times.
Around 9ish in the morning in the middle of hooking 2 pipes together and trying to hold my breath from the fumes of the super glue, my cell phone started to ring and the display read my in-laws caller-id. So I ignored it since I was in the middle of holding pipe together.. add to that the electricians around me we're giving me grief and we're telling me to turn my cell phone off. A few minutes later and a few pipes later I recieved the same call, again I ignored it... but this time after I silenced the phone and the ringing stopped it rang again.
At this point my mind was wondering "what could be so important that my mother-in-law keeps calling my cell phone?"
So I finally answered my cell phone while I standing in a pit where all the pipe was waiting for me... oddly enough it was my brother-in-law on the phone asking me where my location was. He then proceeded to tell me not to go into D.C. and then told me the WTC Towers we're just attacked by two planes and the pentagon was also hit. He would also call me if there was anymore detail to add to it and hung up.
At this point, i'm thinking the events are just a joke and continued to proceed with my work. Later on I thought about it and told a few of the guys I was working with what I just heard and their reaction was.. "yea right.. whatever" I felt that was pretty rude to say considering the thought still hadn't sunk into my mind and into reality.
Soon enough within 30 minutes of recieving the phone call, we all stopped work and huddled around one of the work trucks that had just arrived at the job site and everyone was informed of the recent events. Now naturally we we're awaiting word from the shop whether to proceed working or to pause for the day and head on home...... well using the Nextels that we're available to us.... the word was to proceed working since it did not affect our present work.
A few of the electricians that had gathered around started walking off and I started to hear the racist remarks coming from them.. that it was an Ayrab and to watch out for all guys with a dot on their head, not to trust them.
I was so disgusted by their ignorance that I vowed to myself to eventually leave the trade and the ignorant thinking that I was constantly surrounded by, at the same time one thought came to mind... I was praying that Osama Bin Laden wasn't behind this.. and knew that disgrace, disgust, anger and hatred that would come out as a result of this event.
Later on that day around 3:30pm, we all closed up shop for the day and headed to the beltway and for the first time it was CLEAR as if people we're afraid to drive on their OWN roads, we made record time driving home from the dc area to UMBC which is a good one hour drive during normal rush hour traffic. Once I finally made it to my vehicle and drove to my in-laws house I finally witnessed the fatal tragic events that had occurred previously that day. Over and over again the tapes we're repeated non-stop to glorify how horrific the 'attack' was.
Watching further as Peter Jennings was reporting a terrorist group by the name of "Al Qaeda" had taken responsibility for the attack. Right away I said outloud the definition of the group name.. 'the base'.
It hit me then that arab's general will have a very negative generic view, especially muslims. I felt history was the present --- meaning racism was about to re-surface not for blacks or whites but for muslims and arabs. I immediately recalled the movie 'The Seige' with Denzel Washington and remembered the camps set-up in that movie that held arabs and muslim arabs alike.... the same idea that Adolf Hitler had set-up when the Nazis we're in grand control.
I just prayed that these events would never become reality, however they slowly are whether the citizens of this country like it or not.
One man's anger and hositility to this country has instilled so much fear in everybody's heart. Now whenever I tell people my name, they ask where it comes from and then ask me my opinion on 9/11.
My opinion is simple, ignorance leads to war.
As it stood, the United States was a divided country before the attacks even occured. This country thrived on contraversy and other people's downfall, but the events of almost an hour had changed the way this country now operates with the enhanced security measures that millions of civillians face each day at airports or federal buildings. Millions we're angered that day... angered because we view ourselves as the almighty and wondering how all this could happen... well we aren't, despite our present day technologies and advancements. However the country's security is at it's highest alert stage.
I was working with electricians at the time to help add a new building to Giant's headquarters... we we're in the phase of laying PVC pipe in the ground. I was just praying the day would go by quick.
Working in the construction industry I wasn't at liberty to answer my cell phone whenever it rang, although I always had it on wherever I went and thus depended on it at times.
Around 9ish in the morning in the middle of hooking 2 pipes together and trying to hold my breath from the fumes of the super glue, my cell phone started to ring and the display read my in-laws caller-id. So I ignored it since I was in the middle of holding pipe together.. add to that the electricians around me we're giving me grief and we're telling me to turn my cell phone off. A few minutes later and a few pipes later I recieved the same call, again I ignored it... but this time after I silenced the phone and the ringing stopped it rang again.
At this point my mind was wondering "what could be so important that my mother-in-law keeps calling my cell phone?"
So I finally answered my cell phone while I standing in a pit where all the pipe was waiting for me... oddly enough it was my brother-in-law on the phone asking me where my location was. He then proceeded to tell me not to go into D.C. and then told me the WTC Towers we're just attacked by two planes and the pentagon was also hit. He would also call me if there was anymore detail to add to it and hung up.
At this point, i'm thinking the events are just a joke and continued to proceed with my work. Later on I thought about it and told a few of the guys I was working with what I just heard and their reaction was.. "yea right.. whatever" I felt that was pretty rude to say considering the thought still hadn't sunk into my mind and into reality.
Soon enough within 30 minutes of recieving the phone call, we all stopped work and huddled around one of the work trucks that had just arrived at the job site and everyone was informed of the recent events. Now naturally we we're awaiting word from the shop whether to proceed working or to pause for the day and head on home...... well using the Nextels that we're available to us.... the word was to proceed working since it did not affect our present work.
A few of the electricians that had gathered around started walking off and I started to hear the racist remarks coming from them.. that it was an Ayrab and to watch out for all guys with a dot on their head, not to trust them.
I was so disgusted by their ignorance that I vowed to myself to eventually leave the trade and the ignorant thinking that I was constantly surrounded by, at the same time one thought came to mind... I was praying that Osama Bin Laden wasn't behind this.. and knew that disgrace, disgust, anger and hatred that would come out as a result of this event.
Later on that day around 3:30pm, we all closed up shop for the day and headed to the beltway and for the first time it was CLEAR as if people we're afraid to drive on their OWN roads, we made record time driving home from the dc area to UMBC which is a good one hour drive during normal rush hour traffic. Once I finally made it to my vehicle and drove to my in-laws house I finally witnessed the fatal tragic events that had occurred previously that day. Over and over again the tapes we're repeated non-stop to glorify how horrific the 'attack' was.
Watching further as Peter Jennings was reporting a terrorist group by the name of "Al Qaeda" had taken responsibility for the attack. Right away I said outloud the definition of the group name.. 'the base'.
It hit me then that arab's general will have a very negative generic view, especially muslims. I felt history was the present --- meaning racism was about to re-surface not for blacks or whites but for muslims and arabs. I immediately recalled the movie 'The Seige' with Denzel Washington and remembered the camps set-up in that movie that held arabs and muslim arabs alike.... the same idea that Adolf Hitler had set-up when the Nazis we're in grand control.
I just prayed that these events would never become reality, however they slowly are whether the citizens of this country like it or not.
One man's anger and hositility to this country has instilled so much fear in everybody's heart. Now whenever I tell people my name, they ask where it comes from and then ask me my opinion on 9/11.
My opinion is simple, ignorance leads to war.
As it stood, the United States was a divided country before the attacks even occured. This country thrived on contraversy and other people's downfall, but the events of almost an hour had changed the way this country now operates with the enhanced security measures that millions of civillians face each day at airports or federal buildings. Millions we're angered that day... angered because we view ourselves as the almighty and wondering how all this could happen... well we aren't, despite our present day technologies and advancements. However the country's security is at it's highest alert stage.
Collection
Citation
“story3154.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/6943.