It Never Fails on This Date

On the way into work this morning I was listening to NPR as I usually do and at the top of the hour they announced the date, September 11th.  I wondered to myself if that will ever be merely a date to me again, if it will follow me to my death bed as an event.  Probably the later.

I was no where near the East Coast on September 11, 2001 - I was actually across the country in Seattle.  I’d flown in on September 10th for a technical “Airlift” which was (is?) a Microsoft term for an internal technical briefing for field staff.  I think it was for Mobile Information Sever. I remember the clock radio clicking on at 6am pacific to KUOW and Carl Kasell doing the news at the top of the hour. There was mention of a “possible plane crash” at the World Trade Center in New York, which got my attention.  I figured that’s big enough news, CNN should have something on.  Sure enough they did, and less than 10 minutes later I watched along with the rest of the country as the events that would permanently become identifiable by only the date they occurred on unfolded on live TV.

My story is that of a distant observer, and for the most part unremarkable.  Our briefing continued on - the only interesting thing was that it was held in the building that the Microsoft side of MSNBC was housed in, yet all the TV’s were tuned to CNN.  My return flight was canceled and there was no sign of when I could get back to Madison, WI.  Two Chicago based co-worker and I decided to drive back, and did so in shifts for 32 hours straight, each rotating through getting to sleep on a pillow we picked up at a K-Mart in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  All three of us just wanted to see our families again.

Like, I said, fairly unremarkable.  Yet, two stories that came across RSS today are from Penelope Trunk and Runners World. In particular, click through to Penelope’s accounts posted the day after.  Say what you will about what actually happened that day.  There are plenty of conspiracy theories out there, many which are quite plausible.  Either way, it still happened, and I’m always moved to read these accounts and my heart go out to those who can’t tell there survivor stories.

For a hard dose reality, check out the archival footage from the live broadcasts of that day at television archive.