It's strange when growing up you hear about those moments in your parents or grandparents past who can say that they remember exactly what they were doing when something happened. Like when JFK was assassinated, or MLK assassinated, or even the day Elvis died.
I never really thought I would see anything like that in my lifetime. The closest to it was when the Challenger exploded during take off. But I was so young then. I barely remember being in 1st Grade or Kindergarten and seeing it on television.
But on September 11th, 2001, I will never forget what I was doing, or how horrific it was. I was sleeping like normal because I worked 2nd shift. After the first tower was hit, my Dad woke me up to watch. We all stood in horror as we saw the second plane hit the other tower. That was when our blood chilled and we knew that this wasn't just some horrible accident.
I was working in Operator Services then as a supervisor over Directory Assistance and Toll Operators. It was 2 days after the attack and communications in and around NYC were still jammed and having trouble. I remember that one operator had an emergency call from one of her callers which required me to take over the call to assist with a request for emergency services. I got on the phone call and it was a Doctor in one of the southern states trying to reach her mother in Manhattan. We could not get the call through for her because we were getting an All Circuits Busy message. And this Doctor actually threatened to bomb one of our offices that was local to her. I knew that she was extremely upset and desperate to get in touch with her mother. So I asked her if she was honestly serious about that threat in an attempt to give her the chance to say that she wasn't. She unfortunately did not and coldly told me that she would do whatever was necessary to speak to her mother. I had no choice but to take her threat seriously and contact the local authorities to report her. And she did unfortunately get into some kind of trouble because her attorney contacted our Human Resources department to speak with me, but the HR department wouldn't allow that. That is one thing that I will never forget about that time either. The lengths people will go to when they are desperate.
These are all the thoughts that come back to me when this anniversary comes around every year.
The face of our nation was forever changed. Humanity across the planet was forever changed.
My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the 3,000+ who were killed that day. My heart goes out to the countless innocent victims of hate crimes that followed. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the limitless soldiers who have lost their lives fighting the resulting wars since the attacks. My heart goes out to everyone touched by this horrific act of evil and terror.
