9-11-01

The day it all changed.

Listening to the Howard Stern show now, they're replaying their live broadcast from that horrible day. I'd completely forgotten how incredibly chaotic that day was, all of the rumors of the Capitol being hit, of fires on the Mall, of dozens of planes being hijacked. People calling in saying the PLO was responsible, all of the raw, ethnic hatred on the air. Mesmerizing.

We had an all staff meeting planned for that day, and I was running a bit late. Just happened to be looking at CNN's site when it happened. At first, the reports said a small plane hit one of the towers. It wasn't until the 2nd plane hit that we knew something was up. I ran down to our auditorium to tell my boss what was going on. She told me to go to her office, turn on the TV and keep everyone updated. Panic quickly swept through the building as we heard that the Pentagon had been hit. As our office is only a few blocks from the White House, we were scared shitless. Reports of terrorists roaming the streets were coming in - the Capitol had been hit, no it hadn't, yes it had. So much confusion. My FW, who wasn't yet my FW, worked on the Hill. I couldn't reach her, as all of the phone lines were jammed. I stayed at work until about 2:00, then walked to the FW's apartment. She was safe, as were her roommates Colleen and Santi. We sat in front of the TV, in a trance. I finally decided I needed to head home - my apartment was just south of the Pentagon. The streets of DC were empty, with armed soldiers everywhere. Where the Hell am I? I drove past the Pentagon, the smoke and the smell were horrible. I got home, the dog was going crazy, the place stank of smoke and fuel (the windows were left open because it was such a beautiful day). My parents finally got ahold of me, scared that something had happened to me because I lived so close to the Pentagon. My little sister, bless her heart, was on a bus at the Pentagon when the plane hit, sound asleep. I remember seeing a cab go by, driven by a man I thought was Middle Eastern. For a split second, I hated him, wanted to do something to him. And that feeling will shame me for the rest of my life. But he didn't do it, something not all of us have realized.

What do you remember?