My 9/11

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years.



I write this more for me than anyone else.



Seven years ago today I drove from my house in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ to Morristown, NJ.



I got to the office about 8:15.



Bruno and I had an sales call at 9:00 in Morristown.

I very seldom went on sales calls with Bruno. However, I use to work for the guy we were seeing, (Bob). We got the appointment because I knew him. It had already been cancelled twice, so this was a "must show".



I don't remember when the first plane hit. I never went back over the time line. I just remember that somewhere around 8:50 I heard a lot of "chatter" amongst my staff. Something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. We all assumed it was a small plane.

Then news started coming in, it was a bigger plane.



I phoned my mom in Kansas. Told her to turn on the TV as something was going on, not sure what.



Bruno drove to our appointment, about 5 minutes away. When we got inside the reception area, we could hear a woman in the conference room, crying hysterically. We didn't really know what to do, but everyone continued to work, so we sat down and waited for Bob to emerge.


A few minutes later he came out. He said something like "can you believe it?" He invited us into his office. On his screen saver was the picture of the first plane hitting the Trade Center.


Then, we started our meeting!! Looking back, it was all a little crazy. Here we are, discussing freight rates, services, etc., when one of the major events of our lifetime was unfolding.


Then Bob gets a phone call. It's his wife. A 2nd plane has hit the Trade Center, and a plane has hit the Pentagon. We all stand up and agree it's time to end the meeting, or something to that effect.


Bruno and I go to the parking garage, but we can't find the car. We walk round and round, I am pretty sure both of us were in a daze. Finally we get in the car and I say (or maybe wail) "who hates us so much?" Bruno is Brazilian. Bruno says nothing.



We get back to the office and everyone is leaving. They have closed the schools and people must pick up their children.


Bruno, J.R. and I stay and man the phones. The NY ports are closed. We have ships scheduled to dock, but they have to be diverted to other ports.


Sometime around 2:00 the news reports state all the roads leading eastbound into NYC will be closed at 3:00. My house is east. I leave.


When I pulled onto Interstate 80, the only vehicles on the road were emergency vehicles. Most were from small towns in PA headed to NYC. All had their flashing lights on.
It was very strange, as this is an 8 lane highway, normally bumper to bumper traffic.


There is a point on I-80 near Paterson, NJ, which is very high. You can generally see the top of the World Trade towers from this point.

When I reached that point, all I could see was smoke.


That's when it hit me. The towers were gone.


I worked in One World Trade Center, 77th floor for 1 year. 1985. The first year I moved from Kansas to New Jersey.

For 10 years, the view from my office in Jersey City was lower Manhattan, the towers dominating the skyline.


Now the skyline was totally changed.


I try to explain to visitors after 9/11 how much taller the World Trade Center was than the other buildings. I always say, just imagine something twice as tall as all the other buildings around them.


One World Trade

Two World Trade



That's how those of us who worked there referred to them. We never called them the north tower or the south tower.



Not until the planes hit.



Seven years.



You never get over it, you just get use to it.