story9085.xml

story9085.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-02-23

Still, a year and a half later this day is burned into my head. I'm not sure why I'm writing this but I feel I should at least contribute something to this archive. Here is my story, then:

At the time, I worked for Starbucks Coffee. I recall driving into work with the windows down and the music blasting on that day. I was in on the shift at 6:30.

Our morning rush came in on schedule with all our regulars and their smiling (yet groggy) faces. The rush, which was unusually short for this day, ended at around 8:45. Then a big group of regulars (retirees) came in and sat down outside with their drinks. The attitude of everyone was pretty upbeat that day because of the gorgeous weather.

I don't recall the exact time, but someone I had never seen before, and not since, came in and told us "A plane hit the world trade center" rather non-chalantly. I remember pouring his coffee and thinking about the plane that crashed into the Empire State Building back in the 40's (I had seen something about it on the History Channel once and it stuck in my head because of how horrific it was). I remarked about it and went back about the bussiness. For a few minutes.

Someone else came in, wild-eyed, and asked if we knew what was going on. We told the person we'd heard and then they told us about the second plane. My manager went to the back and grabbed a small blue radio. We set it up next to the bar and huddled around it. After 9:45, our store ground to a halt... nobody was able to function on any level. I went outside to smoke. The retirees that sit out front asked me what was wrong. Appearently no one had told them.

One, a Korean War vet, and a few others were World War II vets, were openly angry about it and they all started talking as I retreated to my car and it's radio. I sat down and listened. It's not like you had to search for a station. It was everywhere on the radios.

I smoked and listened, my cigarette shaking in my hands. I wasn't sure if it was from anger, fear, or what. And then the first tower came tumbling down.

I could phsycially feel something change about the parking lot I sat in on that day. The clouds passing by in the blue sky...

I got out my car and a lady I'd never met before came running up to me and asked me if I thought she should pick up her child from elementary school. I stammered, not sure what to say. I eventually told her to leave the child at school because I wasn't sure what to tell her.

When I came back inside, the store was totally desolate except for a few State Dept. exployees who were talking about it at the counter.

I don't quite remember when we heard that the Pentagon had been hit. There were all sorts of things being said on the radio and we only got snippets of it due to bad reception. But it was pretty appearent that it was bad. Real bad.

Eventually, this lone straggler came walking in in his Navy uniform, all smiles. He was a semi-regular so we all knew him. He came up and says "Why so glum? What's wrong?" We all looked at him, incredulous. "Haven't you heard the radio??"
"No. I have a CD player in my car. Why?"
"You don't know?!"
"No! What's going on?? I woke up late for work and decided to sleep-in!"
"The Pentagon and World Trade Centers have been hit!"
"Hit?! With what?"
"Someone crashed airliners into them."
He turned and ran out the door, yelling "I work at the Pentagon!"

I later found out he had been spared due to his inability to set his alarm clock correctly.

At 11:45 our store got a call from the district manager. To protect their employees, Seattle was shutting down every store from Georgia to Boston. So we began cleaning half-heartedly and walked out. The first thing I heard was a jet engine and I looked into the sky expecting to see fear embodied by a passnger jet. Instead I saw a pair of USAF F-16C's blasting East towards DC. I remember thinking that I had never felt so helpless in my whole life.

I drove to my friend Chris' house. He and I had been part of a USAF Search and Rescue unit called the Civil Air Patrol. We were put on alert and told to stay close to the phone. There, I saw my first televised images of the the hell was happening to my country. I was enaraged just from watching TV. That was another new thing for me. I sat for a long time before my mom called me and we confirmed we were okay. I spent the rest of the day at that house waiting for an alert messege.


I will remember that day until I die. And since that day, I have looked to the sky every time I heard a plane fly over. The silence of the skies (the FAA grounded all aircraft) for the following two days was almost like a 48 hour memorial service.

God be with all the families who were directly effected by that day. The bloodiest day in American history.