Last year, on September 11, I was working for the Delphi Technical Center in Brighton, MI. I went into work as per normal. The news about the airplanes came very quickly. The office was buzzing with rumors and speculation within a few minutes of the first plane strike. I was a contractor, so I didn’t have internet access through the LAN at Delphi but, others around me did. I remember the first image that I saw of the scene was the one of the second airplane as it banked into the second tower. I remember thinking how surreal it seemed.
By the time we understood what was going on it was 10:30am. We hadn’t even heard about the Pentagon strike yet. Most of the company migrated into the lobby of the technical center where there were televisions. 300-450 people were standing shoulder to shoulder in that large room, staring at the screen, in shock and speechless as we watched the news stream in. Tom Nusbaumer called me, he had just left my house the previous evening, and was being shown out of the USO lounge at a military base by MP’s as the base was going on full alert. He lives in Manhattan and his wife works blocks from the towers.
Many of us thought that we were not safe, some left work promptly. Others, like myself, didn’t thinking that there was work to do and money to make. Life must indeed go on, even just a few hours afterword. I went to my car during lunch and completely used my cell phone battery talking to friends and family about the happenings of the day.
Later that evening, I noticed that I was completely out of gas. As I passed gas stations along the interstate, I noticed the incredible lines. I called Mike and asked him where he was and if he was going to fill up. We both feared that there would be no gas tomorrow because of the rush. So we joined the lines at the gas station directly across from the Chevrolet truck plant here in Flint. We paid about $1.89 a gallon for gas that day. Later, all of the merchants and distributors were spanked for spiking prices and gouging the customers.
By the time I got home and settled in here. The news had unfolded, the stories and images were streaming in. I started to read the accounts. Metafilter’s impromptu coverage was amazing. I set up the paxtonland forums for the first time and people came in a dumped their all into them. Endless words were written, even here on the matter.
I watched as flags went up and were slowly forgotten. After that, there seemed to be a sort of post 9/11 doldrum the nation was seized with for quite a few months. Talk of terrorism got more hateful, politicians expounded endlessly about the evils of terror, millions of dollars were sent to charitable foundations with seemingly very little heed as to what they would do with the money. Personal liberties began to be peeled away and still continue to be. War loomed inevitable while Israel, Palestine, India, and Pakistan went about their awful business as usual.
Now we face another year, another war, and if you peek at the poll above, currently 22 out of 24 of you have very little sentiment about 9/11 now. I wonder if that will change as the memorials, documentaries, and news specials unfold? What do you think?