I work as a
travel agent, and I start work at 8 AM central, just moments before the first plane hit. I had logged into my computer and I was sitting at my desk trying to get on to my usual news sites that I check every morning without any luck. I didn't know at the time, but the sites were of course overloaded from people trying to find out what was happening in NYC. So I went to get some coffee and when I got back, my co-worker had just gotten off the phone with someone that had told her a plane had hit WTC. The person didn't have any more info than that so we figured it must have been a small plane that was off course or something. I honestly can't remember how or who told us, but I know only a few minutes later we learned it was a comerical jet.
A few minutes after that we learned that a second plane had hit. My first thought upon hearing that was that "there are more, and they ard headed to DC". I so hate it that I was right.
After that I went to the restroom, locked myself in a stall and cried for 5 minutes.
The rest of the day was very strange. We had calls from people traveling that day that wanted to know what to do as all flights had been canceled due to the full ground stop (some asked if we knew how long it would be...sure let me call the FAA and find out for you.
We get the same CNN reports you do, pal). Others had been in the air when their plane was diverted to another city and need help finding a place to stay. Still more wanted to cancel future reservations as they were too afraid to fly. Once we had the flight numbers of the planes that had crashed, we had to run reports to see if any of our clients were on the flights (no one was).
Because I was more or less stuck at my desk the whole day, and the internet kept crashing due to volumn, I didn't really see any of the pictures or video until I went home last night. Other people in our building were crowded around the two tv's our company has and would come in to give us updates, like when the plane hit the Pentagon and the first tower collapsed, but I didn't see any of it.
So when I got home, bone tired after working overtime trying to help stranded clients and worried I wouldn't have a job in a few weeks (who on earth is ever going to want to fly anywhere?) I sat down and finally saw the horror first hand.
Late that night, I took my dog out for a walk and for the first time ever, it was dead silient outside. All my life I've lived under an O'Hare flight path. There had never been a time there wasn't an airplane engine as background noise, I was so used to it I just never noticed them, unless they were really low and loud. I looked up and there were fewer stars. I'd never known that some of what I thought were stars were aircraft at high altitude. It was very, very erie. At the time I was single and lived alone, and I never wanted a hug from someone so much in my life!
I will NEVER NEVER forget the horror of that day and the feeling of please dont let me have my baby on this day . WE WILL NEVER FORGET .
