9.11.2010, ftw
nine years ago
fucked up day
we were drinking coffee
when a guy from the quality control lab
said somebody flew a plane
into the world trade center
i was thinking a cessna
but we went over and looked
at the tv and saw
the first tower engulfed in flame
i was thinking that
my granddaughter was six months old
("what a world we've given her")
then the second plane hit
i tried for hours to get through
to my sister in jersey
and my buddy jay who lived
down by washington square
my brother in law was waiting
to go over the bridge
when he saw the first tower explode
so he turned around and went home
my nieces knew kids
whose parents worked in the towers
luckily none of 'em were there
that day
when i finally got hold of jay
he told me, "kate and i just watched
the second tower collapse
from the roof our our building.
we're going to go donate blood."
the first time they tried
to blow it up, back in '93,
i told henry juarez,
"this is just the beginning."
i remember that day like i remember
the day jfk was shot (all the teachers
were crying and we got sent home for a week
to run around yelling while our parents
stayed glued to the tv),
the '72 munich olympics
(stayed awake all night
till they announced that
all the israeli athletes were dead)
and the challenger explosion
(i was delivering mail on dyess air force base
and saw it happen on somebody's tv)
after 9.11, i stayed glued to the tv
for a couple of weeks until i decided
that it was time to get on with living.
fucked up day
we were drinking coffee
when a guy from the quality control lab
said somebody flew a plane
into the world trade center
i was thinking a cessna
but we went over and looked
at the tv and saw
the first tower engulfed in flame
i was thinking that
my granddaughter was six months old
("what a world we've given her")
then the second plane hit
i tried for hours to get through
to my sister in jersey
and my buddy jay who lived
down by washington square
my brother in law was waiting
to go over the bridge
when he saw the first tower explode
so he turned around and went home
my nieces knew kids
whose parents worked in the towers
luckily none of 'em were there
that day
when i finally got hold of jay
he told me, "kate and i just watched
the second tower collapse
from the roof our our building.
we're going to go donate blood."
the first time they tried
to blow it up, back in '93,
i told henry juarez,
"this is just the beginning."
i remember that day like i remember
the day jfk was shot (all the teachers
were crying and we got sent home for a week
to run around yelling while our parents
stayed glued to the tv),
the '72 munich olympics
(stayed awake all night
till they announced that
all the israeli athletes were dead)
and the challenger explosion
(i was delivering mail on dyess air force base
and saw it happen on somebody's tv)
after 9.11, i stayed glued to the tv
for a couple of weeks until i decided
that it was time to get on with living.
posted by stashdauber at 7:21 AM
4 Comments:
I called the auto collision repair shop early who then answered, "No, your car can't be fixed, it's totaled, and turn on the television now, I'm not kidding."
The other thing I remember is that James Williamson, whom I'd interviewed the year before and a father himself, emailed me information about how to talk to my kids about the attacks, which I thought was a fine and thoughtful gesture on his part.
Nice thoughts re: a heavy day, Ken.
I remember sleeping one off at my parent's house when my pop came in and, without a word, dragged me outta bed and parked me in front of the tube. We sat in silence most of the day - horrified beyond belief. Bout a week later, on my way out the door to see a $3 screening of "Friday the 13th" with some pals, I got a call from my future wife letting me know a friend of ours never made it out of the Towers. When you weigh that against all the people who lost folks/lived through that day, it breaks my heart to think that us humans, "evolved" as we are, haven't figured out how to get past this violence shit. Truly sad.
On a weird note: my pop writes the purchase date on every non-perishable food item he buys (cereal, condiments, etc.) He then stores them in the hundreds of boxes that clutter his garage and basement where they sit for years and years. I once noticed he had a bottle of maple syrup dated "9-11-01. That means that sometime after the attacks, he decided to go bargain hunting at the supermarket (not at all out of character for him.) We finally finished that syrup at breakfast last week.
I'm impressed with that thoughtful gesture.
All life and death emergencies are terrible to traverse. r.e. your mention of Munich: I know a four-time Olympian in fencing who would have continued until she dropped until the Munich games. Although yes, she lived through the nightmare, she claimed it so scared her that she never wanted anything to do with international competition again. And that ended her career.
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