September 10, 2001 and more.
Sep. 10th, 2002 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raybearThere's no LJ entry for what I was doing on last year at this time. I don't really remember the details. I know that the day before we flew from Los Angeles to Chicago and our flight was severely delayed and we didn't get home until after midnight and all of your mail was there, spilling out of the box because they didn't hold it long enough. We spent awhile going through everything, then we went to bed still wired. I think we had sex then feel asleep.
The tenth was a Monday, and I didn't go to work because I was starting to learn the lesson of taking an extra day to cushion vacation and regularly scheduled life. We probably slept in and were lazy most of the day. Maybe we unpacked and MelRo might have been pretending to repack because she was supposed to be leaving the next day for a family wedding. Maybe we went to Jimmy John's or Philly's Best for lunch. I think Riley came over in the evening but I don't remember it -- I just read some comments in my journal the next day that indicate as much, though I vaguely recall showing off the postcards we purchased in various gas stations.
On Tuesday morning we were still in a vacation mindset. I was putting off going to work, she was putting off preparing for the airport. Normally we wake up to a few minutes of morning radio, but I quickly turned off the alarm. Normally I eat my breakfast in front of the morning news, or at least while putting my shoes on, but instead I spend the morning in the bedroom eating cereal and giving extended goodbye's because she was fly to Philly for nearly a week. I put on my hat and headphones and boarded the train around 8:30 am CST, thinking it wasn't as crowded as usual but not noticing too much. I listened to a tape in my walkman the whole trip, arrived at work without really noticing what anyone around me was doing.
The first person who broke the news to me was Niecie. Lisa probably assumed I knew and didn't say much but "welcome back". Niecie asked how my vacation was, and then said "well, you return back to everyday life and people are blowing up buildings." I asked for clarification and she said, "oh you haven't heard?" and gave a brief explanation. I immediately got online to read news reports and at that moment MelRo called from home and told me what she was seeing on TV.
Our computer access went down, so I walked across the street to the public library to check my e-mail and get more news. I came back expecting the office to close. Lisa and I were too nervous and upset to do anything but listen to the radio. Mr. Mister continued to work. I walked into his office and told him we were leaving. He said he'd issue a 'voluntary leave' policy. I said, "that's nice. Whatever you need to do." Then we packed our bags and left. We didn't want to ride the subway. At the time Chicago was convinced we were next in being attacked. We thought that plane shotdown in Pennsylvania was meant for us. We thought the Sears Tower is the next to fall and our subways would be targeted as well. It seems ridiculous to think about now, but hindsight is the bearer of bad news. The city evacuated pretty quickly.
Lisa and I were scared of the train. We walked home. The long way, along the lake, away from the tall buildings. It tooks us about an hour and a half, and we weren't the only ones -- many folks in loosened ties or carrying briefcases. We alternated out conversation between strange apolocalyptic wonderings and brainstorming about her new performance piece. I probably shared some stories from my recent vacation. We heard Air Force One fly overhead and feared the worst.
We stopped at my apartment and watched TV some -- UPS came and delivered my cell phone at that moment. I offered to drive Lisa home, and I remember the ride home alone in the car being very surreal -- knowing every other person on the road was probably listening and thinking the same things. I kept spacing out, and shaking myself back into reality to concentrate on driving -- but I was on autopilot and managed to safely negotiate myself back home.
We played Trivia Pursuit because we were tired of seeing the news coverage.
That evening MelRo and I drove back downtown to pick up her computer, which was being stored in my office. The entire area was deserted at 5:15 pm -- like a Sunday afternoon in the winter (non-tourist season). A ghost town.
I didn't really write about all these things at the time. They seemed trite and stupid compared to what other people were going through and what was going through our own heads. But I find it remarkable that one year later I can remember such minute details without too much effort in reconstructing -- there's even more about the day I'm not bothering to write down. There are other thoughts and feelings and insights regarding the day and things that followed, but right now I'm just examining how deep the details of the memories are implanted.
The tenth was a Monday, and I didn't go to work because I was starting to learn the lesson of taking an extra day to cushion vacation and regularly scheduled life. We probably slept in and were lazy most of the day. Maybe we unpacked and MelRo might have been pretending to repack because she was supposed to be leaving the next day for a family wedding. Maybe we went to Jimmy John's or Philly's Best for lunch. I think Riley came over in the evening but I don't remember it -- I just read some comments in my journal the next day that indicate as much, though I vaguely recall showing off the postcards we purchased in various gas stations.
On Tuesday morning we were still in a vacation mindset. I was putting off going to work, she was putting off preparing for the airport. Normally we wake up to a few minutes of morning radio, but I quickly turned off the alarm. Normally I eat my breakfast in front of the morning news, or at least while putting my shoes on, but instead I spend the morning in the bedroom eating cereal and giving extended goodbye's because she was fly to Philly for nearly a week. I put on my hat and headphones and boarded the train around 8:30 am CST, thinking it wasn't as crowded as usual but not noticing too much. I listened to a tape in my walkman the whole trip, arrived at work without really noticing what anyone around me was doing.
The first person who broke the news to me was Niecie. Lisa probably assumed I knew and didn't say much but "welcome back". Niecie asked how my vacation was, and then said "well, you return back to everyday life and people are blowing up buildings." I asked for clarification and she said, "oh you haven't heard?" and gave a brief explanation. I immediately got online to read news reports and at that moment MelRo called from home and told me what she was seeing on TV.
Our computer access went down, so I walked across the street to the public library to check my e-mail and get more news. I came back expecting the office to close. Lisa and I were too nervous and upset to do anything but listen to the radio. Mr. Mister continued to work. I walked into his office and told him we were leaving. He said he'd issue a 'voluntary leave' policy. I said, "that's nice. Whatever you need to do." Then we packed our bags and left. We didn't want to ride the subway. At the time Chicago was convinced we were next in being attacked. We thought that plane shotdown in Pennsylvania was meant for us. We thought the Sears Tower is the next to fall and our subways would be targeted as well. It seems ridiculous to think about now, but hindsight is the bearer of bad news. The city evacuated pretty quickly.
Lisa and I were scared of the train. We walked home. The long way, along the lake, away from the tall buildings. It tooks us about an hour and a half, and we weren't the only ones -- many folks in loosened ties or carrying briefcases. We alternated out conversation between strange apolocalyptic wonderings and brainstorming about her new performance piece. I probably shared some stories from my recent vacation. We heard Air Force One fly overhead and feared the worst.
We stopped at my apartment and watched TV some -- UPS came and delivered my cell phone at that moment. I offered to drive Lisa home, and I remember the ride home alone in the car being very surreal -- knowing every other person on the road was probably listening and thinking the same things. I kept spacing out, and shaking myself back into reality to concentrate on driving -- but I was on autopilot and managed to safely negotiate myself back home.
We played Trivia Pursuit because we were tired of seeing the news coverage.
That evening MelRo and I drove back downtown to pick up her computer, which was being stored in my office. The entire area was deserted at 5:15 pm -- like a Sunday afternoon in the winter (non-tourist season). A ghost town.
I didn't really write about all these things at the time. They seemed trite and stupid compared to what other people were going through and what was going through our own heads. But I find it remarkable that one year later I can remember such minute details without too much effort in reconstructing -- there's even more about the day I'm not bothering to write down. There are other thoughts and feelings and insights regarding the day and things that followed, but right now I'm just examining how deep the details of the memories are implanted.
