MY RECOLLECTIONS OF 9/11
It's being 18 years since the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers fell. A day that changed the world forever. There had been terrorism before of course. But nothing like this. Although the Lockerby bombing in Scotland was fairly close to it.
I was not in New York at the time. Like many people I watched the events unfold on television and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. One of my colleagues at work thought that it was so unbelievable that it looked like a trailer for an upcoming movie. There have been many movies and documentaries made about 9/11 since, like United 93. But that is not relevant here. My friend had a point, it was unimaginable.
But it happened. And even if you were not there, you were affected by it. Here is my experience as an outsider from that day.
I woke at 10am. In New York it was only 5am and so far an ordinary breaking dawn. Except I knew it wasn't. As soon as I woke up, my empathy told me something was horribly wrong. I have empathy attacks all the time, they are part of who I am. Normally they are just my body absorbing the energies of the folks around me and I can ignore it. Not today. Today was very different. Whatever energy I was picking up on was not only constant, it was overwhelming. My family were around, but they were fine. So I knew it had nothing to do with them. The TV was on, but it was the usual breakfast TV, nothing out of the ordinary. By mid-day (7am EST), it was so bad, I couldn't cope. but as I wasn't ill, I still had to go to work.
Throughout my journey on the tram to my cinema job in Attercliffe, my empathy would not leave me alone. How was I going to work like this? And more to the point why was it so bad? I knew whatever this was, it wasn't something as obvious as a problem with a relative or maybe a warning of getting yelled at by the boss or something. This was something really significant, something that would change everything. By the time I got to work it was 2pm (9am EST). I walked up to the staff room and something told me just before I opened the door that I was about to finally find out what the hell had been bothering me for the last five hours.
I walked in the room and at that point I knew the world would never be the same again. I saw the TV. I saw the first tower in flames At first, I thought maybe it was a tragic accident, that the plane that hit it was out of control because of lack of fuel, faulty engine, or ill/injured pilot. Then I saw a second plane and heard a dull thump as it hit the second tower. I couldn't believe it. It was then that I realised this was actually the worst act of terrorism we would probably ever see.
I was very quiet for the rest of my shift. My friend Paul, who was used to seeing me very chirpy instantly knew I was upset when he walked in. He had not yet seen the news. He asked what was bothering me. I told him to watch the news when he went up to his locker. He did. He was not the same for the rest of that day either. I was lucky to be on a very short shift and even though I loved my job, I couldn't wait to leave. I was stunned and shocked in a way I have never felt before or, thankfully, since. Normally, after work I would go for a coffee or on a shopping trip with a friend, but this day I just wanted to go home and sit in front of the TV to find out what was going on.
I just watched as the death toll rose and the information saturated the channels. I couldn't believe anyone could be that cruel. I could feel the pain and the chaos. It was more than my senses could handle. I didn't know whether to scream, or cry or hit something. I had never felt so much pain and anger in my life. I couldn't even imagine how bad it was for the people involved.
This was such a big event that, even if you weren't directly involved, it affected you. I've never been quite the same since and I don't think anyone else has either. The world is a diffrent place now - it has changed for all time.
To the families of those 2,977 people who died, you have my condolences. To all the emergency services and the canines who helped, your courage and sacrifice will never, ever be forgottern. You showed us how people can and should pull together in a time of immense pain. This one incident more than any other taught the world, especially America, about coming together for good when a terrible event happens and not letting terrorism and division tear us all apart.
I pray nothing like this will ever happen again.
Throughout my journey on the tram to my cinema job in Attercliffe, my empathy would not leave me alone. How was I going to work like this? And more to the point why was it so bad? I knew whatever this was, it wasn't something as obvious as a problem with a relative or maybe a warning of getting yelled at by the boss or something. This was something really significant, something that would change everything. By the time I got to work it was 2pm (9am EST). I walked up to the staff room and something told me just before I opened the door that I was about to finally find out what the hell had been bothering me for the last five hours.
I walked in the room and at that point I knew the world would never be the same again. I saw the TV. I saw the first tower in flames At first, I thought maybe it was a tragic accident, that the plane that hit it was out of control because of lack of fuel, faulty engine, or ill/injured pilot. Then I saw a second plane and heard a dull thump as it hit the second tower. I couldn't believe it. It was then that I realised this was actually the worst act of terrorism we would probably ever see.
I was very quiet for the rest of my shift. My friend Paul, who was used to seeing me very chirpy instantly knew I was upset when he walked in. He had not yet seen the news. He asked what was bothering me. I told him to watch the news when he went up to his locker. He did. He was not the same for the rest of that day either. I was lucky to be on a very short shift and even though I loved my job, I couldn't wait to leave. I was stunned and shocked in a way I have never felt before or, thankfully, since. Normally, after work I would go for a coffee or on a shopping trip with a friend, but this day I just wanted to go home and sit in front of the TV to find out what was going on.
I just watched as the death toll rose and the information saturated the channels. I couldn't believe anyone could be that cruel. I could feel the pain and the chaos. It was more than my senses could handle. I didn't know whether to scream, or cry or hit something. I had never felt so much pain and anger in my life. I couldn't even imagine how bad it was for the people involved.
This was such a big event that, even if you weren't directly involved, it affected you. I've never been quite the same since and I don't think anyone else has either. The world is a diffrent place now - it has changed for all time.
To the families of those 2,977 people who died, you have my condolences. To all the emergency services and the canines who helped, your courage and sacrifice will never, ever be forgottern. You showed us how people can and should pull together in a time of immense pain. This one incident more than any other taught the world, especially America, about coming together for good when a terrible event happens and not letting terrorism and division tear us all apart.
I pray nothing like this will ever happen again.
