I heard some guy on the street telling a cop that he just saw a plane hit the World Trade Center. He didn’t look like a crank, but the cops seemed as dumbfounded as I was confused about why they were listening to him. Until I looked up and saw the cloud of smoke in the sky. I went up to my office on the 20th floor of a midtown office building, where I could see the smoking top of the WTC through the window, while a TV showed a replay of the second plane colliding with one of the towers. They’ve shut down all the airport, bridges, tunnels, and downtown subways while they wait to see if the damage is done for now, or if the city is actually under attack by terrorists.
I’m trying to log on to various news sites for updates, but I think there are going to be lots of logjams on the new feeds today.
My brother was in the WTC when the bomb went off there in 1993, and he heard this massive boom and turned around to see hundreds of people starting to run his way. Before he was even able to figure out what was going on, he had to turn and run before he got trampled.
Day to day, we forget to worry about things like this, but every once in a while we’re reminded that it’s damn dangerous to live in a major city with so many powerful symbols. We’re a big, sitting duck in many ways.
But I’m OK, in case you’re worrying, Mom.