On 9/11 I went to work as usual. As usual, I was one of the early birds to my office. As usual, I turned on my computer, checked e-mails, ordered some breakfast ….
Then I heard a thump. It sounded like someone had dropped a big carton of something on the floor above.
Then someone came and said “The other building is on fire!”
Because I was working in 2 WTC (the second building that was hit). Our office manager (also an early bird) told us all to evacuate. We were on the 16th floor so it wasn’t too bad and the process was very orderly. When we were on the 1st floor or possibly the basement, I felt the building shake. We got out and discovered that both buildings had been hit by planes.
It was still fairly calm, all things considered. But I figured that anything falling from that height could kill me, so I walked fast to the nearest subway (the 1 train, under WTC was already not working). As people were exiting I told them to go home. They looked at me like I was nuts.
I got home with no real problem. I had glass in my hair, but other than that, I was fine. But then there was no way to alert my wife that I was OK (she had just dropped our son off at school). Cell phones were not working well at all. But my dad was still working and his assistant coordinated calls.
No one at my office was seriously hurt; fortunately, the one employee who used a wheelchair was away that day. We lost a lot of work (we did research and the backups were stored on site, oops) but we managed and no one was let go.
It was an interesting morning.
That night, and the next few days, were also interesting. The city came together like nothing I’ve seen before or since. Our son was somewhat traumatized but has recovered fully.
I have written more about this A reaction to 9/11 by Peter Flom on Random thoughts
Read other answers by Peter Flom on Quora:
- What was it like in the original World Trade Center?
- 9/11 (terrorist attack): Did the USA win the War on Terror?
- What was life like on September 12, 2001 for people in New York?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2gWV9gM
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