Where were you 25 years ago when the first plane hit the World Trade Center? That is the question of the day. It is hard to imagine that there are adults who were not alive when this horrible thing happened. To those who were here and remember that day, where were you?
I was sitting at my recently relocated desk at the small tech company I worked for. I was the only one sitting in this newly set up part of the office. I was working when one of my coworkers came in and told me that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. While we tried to find out more information, I remembered that I had set up travel for our boss, Jay, to fly to California that morning. I quickly looked up the flight number as the news was telling us the flight number of the plane the hit the North Tower. Flight 11 – the plane that he was supposed to be on. Of course, we couldn’t get ahold of him. Cell phones were not working. Needless to say, everyone in the office was in shock. I don’t remember the timing but we eventually heard from Jay. He had switched his flight the night before and was NOT on Flight 11. While we were relieved, we were all still a mess as we watched the next plane hit the South Tower. The management of this small office made the decision to close and send us all home to our families.
As I drove from Stanhope, NJ to Vernon, NJ, I noticed the lack of cars on the road and the absence of planes in the sky. It was surreal. Being so close to Newark and the other NY area airports, planes were always in the sky. It was eerily quiet. When I got home, I sat and watched this horrible day unfold with my family.
The next day, the world was different. Remember how everyone came together? It didn’t matter if you were Democrat or Republican, white or black, gay or straight – we were all there for each other in our pain. Where did that go? What has happened to that? Why are we always at each other’s throats now? Why has anger and hatred taken over where kindness and compassion grew?
I remember how small communities in Canada took in our stranded countrymen when all air traffic was shut down. As our closest ally, they showed kindness and compassion to our citizens who were stranded. Now the our government is in a trade spat with their government. How did we go from kindness and compassion to this???
So, today, in memory of those lost that day – from passengers, office workers, and first responders – I will choose kindness.
