story46.xml

story46.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-02-06

I got up to go to work and walked about of my building at just about 9 AM. As I walked down the street, I heard two men talking. One said, "I can understand one plane, but two?" I had no idea what they were talking about.

I stopped in at the local deli to pick up something, and a slightly disheveled man listening to the radio on his walkman looked at me and said, "I can't believe it." He said, "Two planes just crashed into the World Trade Center." Disbelieving, I ran into work (across the street) and asked a friend if she had heard anything about a plane crash. She said yes.

I ran home and turned on the tv and there it was. After about 30 minutes, I went back to work. Everyone was in shock. I spent the morning emailing and calling friends to see if they were ok, and dashing home from time to time to watch TV. Our internet connection and phone lines were spotty. The buildings came down, and then about an hour later we all went home.

I spent the rest of the day watching the news and calling/emailing people, trying to see who was ok.

If you looked down my street (1st Ave), you could see the smoke, which was about 6 miles south.

That night, and for the next week or so, it smelled like burning plastic outside.