One Day in My Life - 9/11 Memoir

There are apparently 8 million stories in the big city. Since 9/11 probably another 8 million after it left its mark on us all. This is my personal account of that day. Step by step from an ordinary office worker who on an ordinary day watched the world come a little bit unhinged.

At the time I was an office worker, working downtown on Park Place just off Broadway, close to City Hall. I came to work early enough that if the receptionist was absent then I would cover the phones until she arrived. I certainly didn't like covering the phones but it added a little O/T & helped to pay the bills. Come 9.00am and I was at my post. The phones were pretty quiet and the only noise I could really here was the sound of two of our Tech guys playing some war game off in a room fairly close to the reception area. The door to that room was always open and from the reception area you could see one of the large windows that looked out toward Battery Park and the Twin Towers. A few minutes in to the day and I heard a whooshing sound, not overly-loud but clear and definitely like that of a plane. As quickly as it had come it had gone until a split-second later when I heard what sounded like an explosion. A low dull thudding sound. Sounded like an explosion? That didn't make sense. My mind was doing double-takes. It definitely sounded like a plane flying past the building and it definitely sounded like a plane crashing. I put 2 & 2 together and came up with the only plausible explanation which was that the sounds must have been coming from the game the Tech's were playing. With a half a smile on my face I went into their room to shoot the breeze and ask after the source of the noise and the game they were playing. It was at this point that I saw people standing motionless at the big window that overlooked downtown Manhattan and the World Financial Center. They were looking slightly to the left towards the Towers. I stood next to them and watched as a huge fiery cauldron seemed to simmer from a huge gaping hole rent into the side of one of the Twin Towers. It was by no means obvious what had actually hit the tower as there were no visible remnants of any plane. As I stood there it felt (as many people have said since) surreal. It definitely didn't seem real, even as we watched crowds of people running across the streets for safety. There was no noise behind our window save for the distant echoes of fire trucks and police cars.

Standing there, eyes glassy and fixed, many thoughts went through my mind. 'Was anyone hurt' I wondered. Such a huge gaping hole. It was such a beautiful morning, such an ordinary day, how could people be dying. I became a voyeur in my own obscene movie. Detached somehow. Uninvolved almost. Excitement, nervous laughter and speculation was running rampant. Everyone with their own notion of what was going on. I was fortunate in that I didn't know anyone who worked in the Twin Towers and I had no immediate concerns for any loved ones. For the next 10 minutes or so it just looked like another news-worthy event. Something that would make the news for a couple of weeks and then people would forget about. Maybe a dozen people killed perhaps, it still seemed too early in the day. I was trying to imagine how many people there might have been in those 20 floors or so that looked like they were immediately affected. I figured they'd fix the building over time and that would be that. Stupid in retrospect I know. After watching the fire for some 10 minutes or so I went back to the reception desk which at that time was ringing off the hook. I was getting calls from some of my fellow workers spouses asking after those who had not yet made in to work. Panicked and confused they asked after their husbands/wives and I had no answer for them other than for all I knew they weren't in yet but not to worry. After a few minutes of this I found myself becoming a bit annoyed. All I ever see is people with cell-phones in New York City and now it seemed that no-one could get in touch with anyone. Then I heard great commotion. People were coming over to tell me that the 2nd building had been hit. At this point I left the phones. Suddenly things seemed more urgent and perhaps manning the phones wasn't the most important thing to be doing.

I ran down the corridor to the Sales Office, which had a clearer view of both the towers and along with everyone else there stared in wide eyed disbelief at the image before me. This was now obviously intentional and everyone was wondering if perhaps we'd be next. We were some two blocks away and who knew how many planes were being leveled at downtown Manhattan. Everyone was pretty calm though and crazy as it may seem even with the 2nd plane hitting we still waited for the building to tell us to leave. We shut down all the systems and quickly and calmly walked down the pitch-black stairwell, there having been a power-outage in the building. On reaching the lobby hundreds of people were crowded around waiting to be told what to do. To me it seemed obvious and having learnt to trust my own instincts I went out the back exit away from Downtown and made my way to the nearest subway.

As I went down the subway steps, confused faces emerged into the sunlight to witness smoke and fire in the beautiful clear blue sky. But I didn't look back at the building. Not for fear of being traumatized but just not wanting to be part of the crowd mentality that happens when huge events take place. I didn't want to be a open-mouthed ghoul staring at other people's fate. I saw a small boy, about 12 who asked me where Canal Street was. I pointed the way feeling good that it was away from this place but almost instantly I thought 'What if he's looking for his mother, he was alone. Maybe I should have stayed with him, looked after him'. But as with much in life too little too late. As I got to the platform I could see the train sitting motionless. There were a few people on it looking completely bemused. I got on futilely hoping that it would whisk me home before the area got too congested. But of course it didn't. Its route being too close in proximity to the Towers all trains had stopped and we were soon told to get out.

At this point I decided to make my way up to my Wife's place of work which I remembered was mid-town but I didn't know the exact address. I had her work number and thought I'd call her when I got closer to her and away from the craziness. Then she could tell me exactly where she was. It wasn't an urgent thought in my head to even let her know I was o.k. I just wanted to get out of the area. As I walked uptown I saw the police shouting at the crowds to move away from the area. Fire-Trucks screamed down past me, firemen's faces a blur. So much to think about in retrospect. I passed a woman on her knees praying manically and found myself faintly annoyed by this. I don't know why. I had made it to about at 4th street when I had a terrible need. It was the need to pee. Trivial thoughts crossed my mind. Where to pee. I tried to remember where the small parks were in this area that I could relieve myself and worried that If I stood by a tree and did my duty that I might get arrested, as if my bladder problem was going to be a big issue after what was now obviously a terrorist attack. Anyway, I found a small park and I found my tree. Ridiculously relief spread over me. Now I could concentrate on finding a payphone. As I continued walking uptown I passed open bars with people crowded around small TV Sets watching the step-by-step play of events. I passed a young woman screaming in anguish and being consoled by two people. (Workmates?, people on the street?, who knew). What was her story I thought. I imagined her husband as being in one of the Towers. Suddenly things seemed to be hitting home. Another 2 or 3 minutes in and I heard someone say that one of the building's had collapsed. I looked back downtown but all I could see was smoke. It was impossible to see if the buildings were up or not.

As I neared 30th street and Broadway I started looking for a pay-phone. By this time there were long lines at some of the pay-phones I did see. Everyone talking, sharing stories and waiting patiently on-line. After finding a shorter line down a less-busy side street I waited behind some 10 or so people which included a couple of Sales-people who I could hear trying to make last minute business calls. Even in light of disaster they were making their deals. Some things never change. I found myself shaking my head in disgust and surprised that no-one else was getting annoyed. Eventually I got to make my call and my I ended up meeting my wife at her work-place which is pretty much were my immediate experience of the events that day ends. After 2 or 3 hours we managed to get a train home. On the train-ride home there was a kind of hushed intensity. For once people seemed to be busier thinking than talking. There was nothing to say.