September 11, 2009

Where Were You?

Lots of folks are talking about where they were on September 11, 2001. Here is mine:

I was living in Memphis and had just started this new gig, loading boxes into planes at Fed-Ex, primarily because I needed the health insurance. Ironically, I was working in insurance at the time, but my then-wife was rated as uninsurable by any private carrier, so I had to change from $800 suits in the daytime to polyester work pants at night, so she could go to the doctor.

In any event, I had just started this gig the week before and had gotten home about 3am. I had been sure to not schedule any client appointments for the mornings that week, planning to sleep in but my sleep cycle was screwed up. I got up about 8:30 Central Time and puttered around the house - ate cereal, drank coffee and read some on a book I was working on. Then I showered and dressed, still not turning on the TV or radio. I still had dial-up at the house then, so I was not online very much.

I walked outside about 10am and it was a beautiful day - I stretched and breathed deep. My neighbor, Ms. B-, came over. She was a nice older lady, who mainly kept to herself but was always happy to chat if she caught you outside.

“Did you ever think you would see a day like this?” she said.

“Uhhhm, it is an awesome day,” I say, thinking she meant the weather.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but the first plane had hit just about 20 minutes before this, and she had had to come out and see the sunlight, get some air, to know that life was still going on.

She stared at me, told me to go inside and turn on the TV, and then turned and went back inside.

I turned on the TV and did not get off the couch for hours, as I watched the certainty of our security fade away to black.