Five Years Later
Today I was listening to a real time radio rebroadcast of the 9/11/01 Howard Stern Show and it got me thinking about all of the events of 5 years ago and quite frankly it got me angry all over again. To be fair anger is not my only emotion, there is sadness as well present and a sense of never forgetting where I was at the time everything happened.
I work in Manhattan where it happened and like any other day I was sitting down at my desk grading diamonds and listening to the Stern Show when all of a sudden they announced on the show what was going on and EVERYONE in my lab was shocked. I ran outside of my office and stood in the middle of an eerily empty intersection at 5th Avenue and 47th Street and I watched as two of the worlds greatest buildings were engulfed in flames. For those of you not familiar with New York geography my location is about 4 miles away from the Trade Center and is relatively close to the center of Manhattan while the Trade Center was located at the southern tip of the city. Due the awesome size of the buildings my co-workers and I had a very clear view of what was happening and the scramble was to contact friends and family was on.
After the bulidings fell I grabbed my belongings and took off with a friend. We walked to meet a few other people we knew in the city (ram2600 was one person we met up with) and all of us headed north to distance ourselves from the danger. After it became apparent that we had no other option, we decided to try and find a way home. During our aimless walk we ran into a soldier of some sorts (with machine gun at the ready) who told us that if we can find our way back downtown they would let is take the Staten Island Ferry to get out of the city.
The Ferry is very close to the Trade Center and that meant we had to walk through the mushroom cloud of smoke that completely covered lower Manhattan.... I will NEVER forget that smell. The papers and debris floating by in the air looked like something out of a post apocalyptic nightmare and if is was not for the stench and the smoke it just did not seem real.
It took us around a total of 8 hours but we got home and I had never been happier in my life to be there. Unfortunately there were thousands of others that never did make it home that day and this post is not about me-it is to remember them and the others truly effected by the events that day. It was a bitter pill for the world to swallow and my heart goes out to anyone and everyone effected by that day, along with the rest of the world I will never forget where I was or what I was doing five years ago today.
I work in Manhattan where it happened and like any other day I was sitting down at my desk grading diamonds and listening to the Stern Show when all of a sudden they announced on the show what was going on and EVERYONE in my lab was shocked. I ran outside of my office and stood in the middle of an eerily empty intersection at 5th Avenue and 47th Street and I watched as two of the worlds greatest buildings were engulfed in flames. For those of you not familiar with New York geography my location is about 4 miles away from the Trade Center and is relatively close to the center of Manhattan while the Trade Center was located at the southern tip of the city. Due the awesome size of the buildings my co-workers and I had a very clear view of what was happening and the scramble was to contact friends and family was on.
After the bulidings fell I grabbed my belongings and took off with a friend. We walked to meet a few other people we knew in the city (ram2600 was one person we met up with) and all of us headed north to distance ourselves from the danger. After it became apparent that we had no other option, we decided to try and find a way home. During our aimless walk we ran into a soldier of some sorts (with machine gun at the ready) who told us that if we can find our way back downtown they would let is take the Staten Island Ferry to get out of the city.
The Ferry is very close to the Trade Center and that meant we had to walk through the mushroom cloud of smoke that completely covered lower Manhattan.... I will NEVER forget that smell. The papers and debris floating by in the air looked like something out of a post apocalyptic nightmare and if is was not for the stench and the smoke it just did not seem real.
It took us around a total of 8 hours but we got home and I had never been happier in my life to be there. Unfortunately there were thousands of others that never did make it home that day and this post is not about me-it is to remember them and the others truly effected by the events that day. It was a bitter pill for the world to swallow and my heart goes out to anyone and everyone effected by that day, along with the rest of the world I will never forget where I was or what I was doing five years ago today.
posted by Antek on 9/11/2006
3 Comments:
I asked Ralph once about that day, and what he did. I didn't know you and him walked home THROUGH that very area to get to the ferry.
I heard that the mix of the chemicals, esbestos, dust, and other shit are causing problems for people even now. Did you guys wear a face mask?
I watched Stern On Demand with it and got pissed all over again.
It still feels like yesterday to me. It's all very fresh.
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