Where Were You?
5 years ago today I woke up, turned on the WGN Morning News and was about to get ready for my day as usual. That’s when I noticed the anchors on my TV weren’t their normal jovial selves horsing around. They were all serious and looked startled. I saw the footage of a plane in a building and immediately I thought, “that pilot is in so much trouble.” Then, the second plane hit. I didn’t realize I had been standing, watching this on my TV until I sat on the couch. I kept watching, but I needed a break and finally went and took a shower. I had my radio on in the shower, even XRT had stopped music and was feeding CBS news on the air. I came out, and stopped in front of the TV, I think that’s when the Pentagon was hit. I kept watching, and then the first tower fell. At that point, I decided I couldn’t watch anymore, and I left for work. The bus was quiet, I wondered if everyone else knew what was going on, if they had turned on the news or a radio before they left for work. The bus wasn’t usually that silent or that empty.
I got to work and everyone was gathered in bossman’s office watching the news. By the time I arrived at work, a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania and the second tower had fallen.
It was hard to focus on any kind of work. Our clients weren’t open for very long, they did the minimum amount of work and then closed for the day. I remmeber trying to get the CNN website to load to get more information, but kept getting blank pages. My little sister begged me to go home. I assured her the building I worked in was not going to be a target.
I can’t remember if I left work early that day, but I do remember that when I got home the news was still on, the usual line-up of comedies and dramas never came on, and for once, I didn’t care.
