story1303.xml
Title
story1303.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-20
911DA Story: Story
My story is similar to most: full of surprise, then
shock and sadness, then burning anger.
I used to work the night shift for Expedia.com (an online
travel agency) and I had slept until 11am on the
morning of the attack. Upon awakening, I was reading a Tom
Clancy book (The Bear and the Dragon) and I didn't turn on the TV set or radio. At 1pm, I left for work by catching a shuttle to the St. Louis Metrolink.
When I boarded the shuttle, I kept hearing strange reports
coming over the driver's radio: "Attention all bus
drivers! Please check your bus for any unattended
packages! Please do this at once!" and "Attention!
South County Mall and the Galleria have been shut
down....please advise your passengers of this!" I
noticed that the bus driver seemed very upset as well.
I was very confused; I thought that perhaps there had
been another school shooting (!) or something of that
nature. Furthermore, when I boarded the Metrolink, I
could overhear the (usually quiet) passengers in a
stir about "all the things that happened that day" and
I finally just asked "what is going on?" to the
others.
To my shock, they described the horrific events of the
day. At that point it was unclear if they were foreign
or domestic terrorists. Regardless, I was completely
floored.
When I arrived at work in downtown St. Louis, they had
already evacuated most buildings, and the streets
looked just like they do on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
I stood in shock for a couple of minutes gazing around
at the eerie confusion around me.
I entered our office, and only one manager was left on
our floor. We began calling employees back to work,
and then began the grim task of trying to handle the
avalanche of panicked customers flooding our telephone
network.
Since that day, we have worked non-stop trying to help
and advise our stranded passengers around the world.
Now we face a slowdown in the travel industry which in all
likelihood will mean layoffs, but our mood remains
optimistic.
Most of all, we remain united as fellow workers and
Americans and citizens of the Earth, and we will do
our best to make sure nothing like this ever happens
again. My thoughts now linger above the rocky hills of
Afghanistan, our allied air squadrons raining
destruction on the beasts who would sponsor terrorism,
our troops advancing toward a victory for all of humankind.....
shock and sadness, then burning anger.
I used to work the night shift for Expedia.com (an online
travel agency) and I had slept until 11am on the
morning of the attack. Upon awakening, I was reading a Tom
Clancy book (The Bear and the Dragon) and I didn't turn on the TV set or radio. At 1pm, I left for work by catching a shuttle to the St. Louis Metrolink.
When I boarded the shuttle, I kept hearing strange reports
coming over the driver's radio: "Attention all bus
drivers! Please check your bus for any unattended
packages! Please do this at once!" and "Attention!
South County Mall and the Galleria have been shut
down....please advise your passengers of this!" I
noticed that the bus driver seemed very upset as well.
I was very confused; I thought that perhaps there had
been another school shooting (!) or something of that
nature. Furthermore, when I boarded the Metrolink, I
could overhear the (usually quiet) passengers in a
stir about "all the things that happened that day" and
I finally just asked "what is going on?" to the
others.
To my shock, they described the horrific events of the
day. At that point it was unclear if they were foreign
or domestic terrorists. Regardless, I was completely
floored.
When I arrived at work in downtown St. Louis, they had
already evacuated most buildings, and the streets
looked just like they do on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
I stood in shock for a couple of minutes gazing around
at the eerie confusion around me.
I entered our office, and only one manager was left on
our floor. We began calling employees back to work,
and then began the grim task of trying to handle the
avalanche of panicked customers flooding our telephone
network.
Since that day, we have worked non-stop trying to help
and advise our stranded passengers around the world.
Now we face a slowdown in the travel industry which in all
likelihood will mean layoffs, but our mood remains
optimistic.
Most of all, we remain united as fellow workers and
Americans and citizens of the Earth, and we will do
our best to make sure nothing like this ever happens
again. My thoughts now linger above the rocky hills of
Afghanistan, our allied air squadrons raining
destruction on the beasts who would sponsor terrorism,
our troops advancing toward a victory for all of humankind.....
Collection
Citation
“story1303.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 19, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/8693.