My Memories of 9/11.....
It seems whenever something horrible nationally happens, peoples memories go into overdrive. I was a very young kid but I remember the events of the day JFK was shot. I wasn't born when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but I'm sure older folks can remember that day vividly. 9/11 2001 was one of those days. Everything changed after that. And not for the better.
Things have changed so much that sometimes it hard to remember what life was like on September 10th, 2001. Well kids, there was a time when you didn't have to take off your shoes to get on a plane. In fact, you could actually walk down an airport concourse to meet and greet relatives leaving or arriving at the gate. No Homeland Security. Going on a plane trip was thought of as fun.
The Soviet Union had fallen in 1991. Our country had no evil empire to fight. No shooting wars. Gulf War I lasted a few weeks in 1991. It was so successful it could have been a made for tv event. The national debate was if we should downsize the military with no major enemies. There was still the kook in North Korea. But he didn't have any nuclear weapons - yet. So from 1991 to 2001 there was sort of a Golden Age of Peace. The biggest scandal in the world was Monica Lewinsky's dress. Then the world came crashing down - literally.
September 10th happens to be my wedding anniversary. That's a happy day and a day to celebrate. Now it's hard to enjoy an anniversary dinner without remembering what the next day is an anniversary of.
On September 10, 2001 my wife and I enjoyed our anniversary dinner at a restaurant in downtown Cleveland called Fat Fish Blue. It was a cool place that had good New Orleans style cuisine along with live jazz and blues music. It has since closed and is now a place to watch young ladies cleavage and drink beer.
The next day was a Tuesday, and I got up to go to work. It was a beautiful September day with a bright blue sky. I worked as an Account Executive for Sprint. But not the Sprint you know now. I sold Frame Relay systems to corporations with multiple locations. That was sort of a private Wide Area Network technology that is now mostly defunct. Our office was the typical rows of cubicles. Each cube had a desk, file cabinets, and a computer workstations. And of course a phone. Had to keep trying to contact the clients that have been trying to ignore you for weeks.
Early in the day a guy walked by my cube and told me that a plane had crashed into the Wold Trade Center. My first thought was that it had to be some small private plane. It had to be some crazy guy acting on his own. How much damage could a small private plane cause? Then they told me it was a commercial jet and my level of concern grew. While I remained in my cube, pretending to do work, the guy came running by again like Paul Revere.
"Another plane hit the other tower!" Now I knew it was no accident. I called home and told my wife to turn on the tv and watch what was going on. She was unaware. (Thinking back, I don't even think texting was available at that time.)
Then the horror of the situation grew. The guy walked by my cube again and told me the world Trade Center had fallen. "What do you mean? The top came off?" I asked. "No. The whole building came crashing down! It's gone!" he replied. Somehow I couldn't visualize this. I thought it had to be wrong. Then I heard something sketchy about the Pentagon. That was it. I said hell with work and left. Who could concentrate with this going on. I didn't ask permission. I just left and went home. I wanted to be with my wife in a safe place. Like home. My kids were in school.
When I got home we were glued to the tv and the news coverage. We watched as the second tower fell. We watched the Pentagon burn. We heard about a plane crash in Pennsylvania. We had many question, but few answers.
I think what was so shocking to me was the very nature of the terrorist act. I consider myself a creative guy. But I wouldn't of thought of hijacking planes and flying them into skyscrapers - senselessly murdering thousands of people. (I even have a hard time imagining slavery. What a concept.)
In the afternoon, my wife asked me to go pickup two of our kids from elementary school. That would be understandable except the elementary school was literally in my back yard. They couldn't have gotten lost. Nevertheless, I understood her concern and went to meet the kids. How do I explain this to my kids? I don't think I did a very good job. I just told them something horrible happened in New
York. I couldn't even tell them that tomorrow would be a better day. Because I wasn't sure. The next day everyone flew the American Flag on their homes.
Yes the world has changed dramatically since then. Wars have been fought. Young soldiers have died. The world is just different. Young people growing up today have adapted to the changes. I'm sure their attitudes in life have been affected in some way.
Some time in the future another horrible thing will happen. The news coverage will be all over it. People will remember where they were when it happened. I just pray it doesn't happen in my lifetime.
It seems whenever something horrible nationally happens, peoples memories go into overdrive. I was a very young kid but I remember the events of the day JFK was shot. I wasn't born when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but I'm sure older folks can remember that day vividly. 9/11 2001 was one of those days. Everything changed after that. And not for the better.
Things have changed so much that sometimes it hard to remember what life was like on September 10th, 2001. Well kids, there was a time when you didn't have to take off your shoes to get on a plane. In fact, you could actually walk down an airport concourse to meet and greet relatives leaving or arriving at the gate. No Homeland Security. Going on a plane trip was thought of as fun.
 |
| Berlin Wall falls in 1989. End of the Evil Empire? |
September 10th happens to be my wedding anniversary. That's a happy day and a day to celebrate. Now it's hard to enjoy an anniversary dinner without remembering what the next day is an anniversary of.
 |
| My last meal in the Old World was here. |
The next day was a Tuesday, and I got up to go to work. It was a beautiful September day with a bright blue sky. I worked as an Account Executive for Sprint. But not the Sprint you know now. I sold Frame Relay systems to corporations with multiple locations. That was sort of a private Wide Area Network technology that is now mostly defunct. Our office was the typical rows of cubicles. Each cube had a desk, file cabinets, and a computer workstations. And of course a phone. Had to keep trying to contact the clients that have been trying to ignore you for weeks.
Early in the day a guy walked by my cube and told me that a plane had crashed into the Wold Trade Center. My first thought was that it had to be some small private plane. It had to be some crazy guy acting on his own. How much damage could a small private plane cause? Then they told me it was a commercial jet and my level of concern grew. While I remained in my cube, pretending to do work, the guy came running by again like Paul Revere.
 |
| The horror of 9/11. |
Then the horror of the situation grew. The guy walked by my cube again and told me the world Trade Center had fallen. "What do you mean? The top came off?" I asked. "No. The whole building came crashing down! It's gone!" he replied. Somehow I couldn't visualize this. I thought it had to be wrong. Then I heard something sketchy about the Pentagon. That was it. I said hell with work and left. Who could concentrate with this going on. I didn't ask permission. I just left and went home. I wanted to be with my wife in a safe place. Like home. My kids were in school.
When I got home we were glued to the tv and the news coverage. We watched as the second tower fell. We watched the Pentagon burn. We heard about a plane crash in Pennsylvania. We had many question, but few answers.
I think what was so shocking to me was the very nature of the terrorist act. I consider myself a creative guy. But I wouldn't of thought of hijacking planes and flying them into skyscrapers - senselessly murdering thousands of people. (I even have a hard time imagining slavery. What a concept.)
| Everyone flew the flag. |
York. I couldn't even tell them that tomorrow would be a better day. Because I wasn't sure. The next day everyone flew the American Flag on their homes.
Yes the world has changed dramatically since then. Wars have been fought. Young soldiers have died. The world is just different. Young people growing up today have adapted to the changes. I'm sure their attitudes in life have been affected in some way.
Some time in the future another horrible thing will happen. The news coverage will be all over it. People will remember where they were when it happened. I just pray it doesn't happen in my lifetime.
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