On the evening of September 10th, 2001, for some reason that is pointless to recall, I had to leave my car parked at Kiwanis Park here in Tempe. I think the battery was dead. On the morning of September 11th, we had to go get the car so I could get to work. We got the kids ready (1 and 3 at the time), piled into the second car and drove to the park. We had no TV or radios on in the morning and had no idea what was taking place. When we got to the park, we got the car started (I may have changed the battery there), and I got in to drive to work. I tuned the radio to NPR. That was when I first learned of what had happened, or at least what they thought was happening. By the time I got to work, the TV in the conference room and been turned on and the image of the towers burning was on the screen. I didn't watch. I had heard enough on the radio that I had no interest in ghoulishly watching what was going to happen next as they speculated what the buildings would do. I had a major project I was leading and had work to do, thankful for the distraction. I also knew that what was being reported at that time was going to change drastically as it eventually moved from sensationalist TV to real journalism as they started to collect facts and put the pieces together.
I do not watch any videos of what happened. I do not need the visual reminders. Even though it was not the first or last time an attack by a foreign entity was committed on American soil in my lifetime, 9/11 certainly stands out for the sheer insanity and execution of the plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment