I nearly forgot that yesterday was 9/11. My mind was consumed with thoughts of yesterday’s Wine Tasting Event and the Earth, Wind & Fire concert rather than the terrorist attack in New York.
The morning of 9/11 is clearly etched into my memory. I’d taken my shower and was sitting on the edge of the bed drying my hair and watching T.V., though my contacts weren’t in yet. My husband, Laurent, was still sleeping. When they showed the plane hit the tower, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d seen and hurried to put my glasses on. Then I wasn’t sure WHERE it was taking place or how long ago it had happened. After turning up the sound and realizing that it had happened mere moments ago in New York, I was freaked out, to say the least. All I could say was “Oh my god! Oh my god!” Then I woke Laurent up to tell him what was going on. We stared at the TV in disbelief. I’ve always thought of the United States as pretty much invincible. For the first time, I was actually scared about the safety of U.S. citizens in our own country. Before long, the phone rang. A friend and former co-worker of mine was calling to tell me NOT to go to the office. He still worked in the same vicinity and said that the main office buildings had been closed down. Laurent called his sister, who was also living in San Francisco at that time. We were all in disbelief together. Later we went out to lunch somewhere near Union Square, but the streets were nearly deserted. It was a strange feeling.
The office building was closed for a couple of days. When we went back to work, they tried to implement all of these “security” procedures in the lobby. They now wanted everyone to show ID before they entered the elevators. What good does that do? If I had intentions of blowing up the building, I could care less if you know who I am first!!! In the office, we went over emergency procedures according to our Business Continuation Plan (i.e. where we would meet, who was to call who, etc., etc.). Business didn’t exactly continue as usual, but we tried to maintain. What was not amusing was that some crackpot(s) called the building with bomb threats for 2 or 3 days in a row. Dashing down 27 flights of stairs is no fun at any time, let alone in heels.
Part of our employees had been in New York for some training during the attack and a few had actually seen the attack from the window of the building they were in. After the attack, it was a mad scramble for all of them to return to the West Coast, whether it be by plane, train, bus or rental car. Everyone wanted to be home with their families and friends.
As the week wore on, things slowly began to return to normal. One evening Laurent and I had gone to the movies. When we got back to our apartment building, some people were gathered outside lighting candles in memory of the victims. We spent many hours of the evening, as well as during the day, watching the news coverage and hearing all the sad stories about people losing their loved ones.
Within a month following that attack, I was in downtown San Francisco at a mall on the weekend. All of a sudden men in masks and with guns came running through knocking over things and shouting. It was mayhem. People were dashing into stores, but I kind of froze. A store employee was yelling at me to come inside as she was about to put down the metal protective door. I finally composed myself and ran inside as she lowered the door. My thoughts were of Laurent. If something happened to me that day, at that moment, I would never see him again. Not only that, but he wouldn’t know what happened to me right away or not for awhile. He’d wonder why I wasn’t home or why I wouldn’t answer the phone. Knowing him, he’d call all of my friends and search all over town for me. Oddly, I was also thinking about the flowers he’d just bought for me, and how he frequently bought flowers for me because he knew it made me happy. I started to cry. My tears ended quickly, though, because the mall security had ascertained that the entire incident was a prank by a group of people. Obviously, I didn’t see any humor in it in the least and neither did any of the other customers who’d feared for their lives and dashed into whatever store was nearest. If those people wanted to make a political statement, they could have done so without causing panic amongst the general population.
Though I’d never been to the World Trade Center in New York prior to the terrorist attack, my job took me there afterwards. The corporate offices of the company that I work for are based on the East Coast. While there for a conference 3 or 4 years later, several of us were in New York City together. We happened to take the PATH train to the WTC stop. Both clean up and construction of the site continued. When one of the New York employees described her shock when it happened and how her day had gone, it hit home. It was obvious that she was still very much affected by it.
When Osama Bin Laden was finally killed, it came as a surprise. I was beginning to think that he would remain elusive and never be found. After hearing about his death on the news, I immediately texted my then-boyfriend to let him know. It felt like the end of an era.
Now it’s 12 years later and 9/11 seems so long ago. That must be why yesterday’s significance didn’t really dawn on me till the day was nearly over. We should all celebrate our lives and the lives of those we care about on a daily basis, not just when something traumatic happens. It’s sad to realize that it takes tragedy for us to appreciate the little things in life to their full extent.