For some reason, on my way to work today, I started thinking about September 11th. I do this every so often...although less frequently as the years have passed. I can't believe it has been almost 9 years. I'm not sure what makes me think about it, and I don't like thinking about it.
September 10th I went around to different sororites at NYU because my roommate and I were thinking about pledging. We had so much fun - on the way home we even stopped at the cafeteria and had a late night snack. I remember being so pissed when I got back to our dorm because my roommate had locked herself in our room w/ a boy. I slept on the couch in my suite.
On September 11th I woke up at 6:30 am, showered, dressed, and grabbed a bagel at Bagel Bob's on fifth avenue w/ my roommate. Then I ran to meet my calculus study group in Washington Square park. It was a gorgeous morning, and I was literally running - it felt so good. We studied, talked, basically got to know eachother. At 7:45 I walked with a throng of students to the main building in Washington Square park. It was such a pain to wait for the elevator, so I trudged all the way up to the 14th floor. I remember thinking - I fucking hate climbing these stairs. I'm fat, and I need to quit smoking.
My calculus teacher was a boring, boring man. I swear, he was about 90. He was sweet as anything, but very cut and dry - you know the type. He would spend about 90 minutes going over one problem. Because I was having trouble, I chose a seat at the front of the class. Class started at 8 o'clock...the professor droned on...and on...and on...I could barely keep my eyes open.
All of a sudden, a kid at the back of the class exlaimed "Holy fucking shit!! A plane just hit one of the towers!" - which jolted everyone out of their lull. Everyone crowded to the back of the class (which had windows that looked out over lower Manhatten). Everyone was talking excitedly - at this point we thought it was a horrible, tragic accident. There was a girl in my class, I remember her, she was talking about how her dad was working in the other building, but she was worried. She tried to call him on his cell phone, but he didn't answer. We all just stood there and stared - it felt like eternity. The sounds of sirens and ambulances started sounding everywhere...they would get louder and fade, louder and fade.
What happened next I will never forget. I swear, it is burned into my retinas and brain. I heard a girl scream "WHAT IS THAT" - saw a shadow...saw the plane...as it slammed into the second tower. Clear as day. The plane didn't even try to avoid the fucking thing, it just slammed right into it. There was a huge billow of smoke. Well, the girl who's dad worked in that building let out a scream that I will never forget. It was almost like a howl, and she fell to the floor and started sobbing uncontrollably. I swear, everything was happening in slow motion. I can still see the looks on everyone's faces - shock, disbelief - the girls friend helped her up and they rushed out of the room. I don't think anyone knew what to do.
The fire alarm in the building was pulled, so we got ready to leave. Then campus security came by and said that the building was on lock down, and no one could leave. So we all filed back to our seats.
I'll post the rest of my story later, right now I have to get some work done. Heavy thoughts, man. Heavy thoughts. *sigh*
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That gave me chills. I remember it as well. My mother was in DC with her best friend, and saw the plane that hit the Pentagon fly over her head, she felt the ground shake. We couldn't get ahold of her for over a day, and it was terrifying. That poor girl in yoru class whose dad was in the second building....wow.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was pretty bad. I'll post more tomorrow, writing about is kind of draining. The worst part is that girl and her friend never came back to class for the rest of the semester, so we never knew what happened.
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