Seven Years Later

I got to work early on September 11, 2001. At the time I was working out in Reston, Virginia. I went to the deli downstairs with my friend Max for some breakfast when the news that the first tower was hit came over the television. We laughed about it. I know that sounds like a horrible thing but the idea of plane hitting one of the Twin Towers was just so absurd when we first heard it. It didn’t seem real at all – the potential loss of life wasn’t even considered at first. We thought it was a little prop plane that went up against the mighty skyscraper and lost. Being native New Yorkers ourselves, we knew about the time a B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building. That B-25 bomber drove right into the upper floors, killing only 14 people. What kind of damage could a little plane possibly make to the Towers?

Then the TV said it was a commercial airliner. Then the TV said a second plane crashed into the second tower. And it wasn’t funny anymore. I think Max said “terrorism” first, a word that will dominate every conversation for months to come. We went back to the office to call our friends and family in New York and try to get an idea of what’s going on over there. By the time we got upstairs there were already TVs and radios in every office reporting the crashes. I kept trying to call my mom, my dad, my friend Gennaro – all circuits were busy. Someone came into my office and told me a plane crashed into the Pentagon and I didn’t even think twice: I call Robin.

At the time we were living across the river from the Pentagon. I knew Robin went to work already, but she worked in DC and she was too close to whatever was happening. I called and called and called and got nothing but busy signals and “all circuits are busy” messages. I went into our main conference room to watch the news on TV, attempting to call everyone I knew from NYC and DC to make sure they’re safe.

Robin’s mom called me. She wanted to know if Robin was alright. I told her I was trying to get in touch with her and I’d let her know as soon as possible. I finally get in touch with my mom – she’s hysterical. My parents live in Red Hook, Brooklyn, directly across the river from the towers. My father was actually in Brooklyn Heights that morning which is basically as close as you can get to the towers from the Brooklyn side. He was heading out to my sister’s High School to pick her up. I calmed my mom down and finally got in touch with Robin.

At this point the news organizations were losing their minds. There were reports of truck bombs at the State Building, attacks against the White House (which was later reported as an attempted attack on the White House by Flight 93), mysterious gases and smells all over downtown DC. I told her to sit tight because her job seemed to be a lot safer than our apartment at the moment.

The towers fell – I watched it live. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was another selfish moment where I didn’t even consider the loss of life – I thought about the skyline I enjoyed from the roof of my parents’ apartment and how it would never be the same again. But that’s what happens when a symbol is attacked, lives become secondary.

Phone calls started trickling in from friends and family members. Everyone seemed to be alright and I considered myself lucky for that.

Once the frenzy settled down Max and I made our way back into DC. All of the major roadways were a mess so we took back roads into the district. Chain Bridge to Embassy Row – there were big guards with big guns stationed in front of every building, eyeing us as we drove by. Robin was home before me – she took the metro home despite my concerns. Turns out there was one death in our family on that day – Robin’s Grandfather died but it wasn’t tied to the events of September 11th. In fact, her family kept quiet, not wanting a WWII veteran to know what was happening to his country on what seemed to be his last day alive.

I made the first of many mistakes by suggesting we didn’t take the trip to Framingham for the funeral. We didn’t have a car at the time, airlines were grounded, and Amtrak was pegged with people stranded in NYC, DC, and Boston. Those were the practical reasons for staying put – the underlying reason was the fear. What comes next? An assault on the rail system? That seemed to make the most sense.

That fear guided a lot of decisions over the next couple of weeks and months. Overthrow the Taliban? Hell, I was for that before 9/11 and I’m certainly for it now. Overthrow Saddam? Did you see Powell’s briefing? Do it and do it now. We also bought the “Go out and shop” line. We bought a car. We bought some new clothes and cell phones and some new furniture. We bought a lot of stuff – mainly bullshit – but I’m over that now.

I would constantly hit refresh on CNN.com – I don’t think I got any work done for months. We moved out of DC once our lease was up, moved into Arlington because it was safer. Lee Highway and Glebe Road, a little pocket of nothing. We stayed in that apartment for three years before moving to Rosslyn, within walking distance of Georgetown. At that point we just learned to love Arlington. I also changed careers. I moved out of acoustics and into chemical and biological defense planning, scenario development, and crisis management. Remember bird flu? My analysis of avian influenza was briefed to the President (by someone else, of course). Sorry it got blown out of proportion (a year later, admittedly, and probably having nothing to do with my analysis). You know that guy that probably mailed the anthrax letters? My group worked with him in the past, before my time, admittedly. My new job does good work and we plan for the unthinkable. Believe me; I’m glad it’s only used for sensationalized scenarios and the occasional dog wagging. I’d hate to have it used for anything else.

But my new career did help me deal with the fear. It gives me an understanding of what’s possible, how bad it would be, and how we should deal with it. Understanding the situation, despite how horrible, allows you to cope with it and move on. I still have nightmares, don’t get me wrong. Horrible, horrible nightmares. Nuclear explosions, burning flesh, hijacked planes, chemical caches – I dream about them almost every night.

And that brings me to today, seven years later. Nightmares, asymmetrical warfare planning, and all. And comic books! I can’t forget comic books, My childhood escapism turned into adult escapism. I have to admit, it burns me up to see images of the towers and the pentagon play at the RNC while the speakers take shots at the “elitist East.” To see folks from the corn and bible-belts chanting USA, ragging on us liberals that lived through September 11th, whose lives were drastically changed and still live with a touch of fear on a day-to-day basis, yet using the tragedy as a war cry.

It’s funny – in 2000 I was a McCain supporter. A registered Independent, social liberal, and fiscal conservative. Over the past seven years my love for this country (and the people in it) has grown significantly. I’ve traveled all over the US with my job, met all kinds of people from all types of backgrounds. We have a wonderfully diverse country with hundreds of millions of interesting stories. And yet we’re being torn apart by divisive politics and lies. I fall into it too, sometimes, more often than I should. It’s hard to keep a clear head when both sides grind you down. I do believe this country stands at a cross-road, however. There are too many problems facing us that we’ve been ignoring for far too long. I do believe we’re going to need someone who isn’t afraid to think completely outside the box, who can unify this country, and who can finally move us beyond a Tuesday in September seven years ago and look towards the future.

Hopefully on September 11th, 2009 I can come back to this blog and talk about our recovering economy, baby boomers retiring and having money to live on, new jobs as a result of energy advancements, and promising new medications and treatments that result from our government getting out of the way of science. Hopefully I can talk about America taking a leadership roll in the world again and our improving position in the global economy. Hopefully we can begin to make amends as a country, find common ground, and stop sacrificing our future for tabloid-style politics.

Hopefully.

Labels: editorial, mitc

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