Not Your Average Gal

Copywriter. Content Creator. Constant Sassypants.

NBC

11 years later on the 11th

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My story isn’t unlike most others.

A junior at MSU, I was laying in bed bleary eyed, listening to the Today show not wanting to get up for my Business Communication class when the first plane hit.  Cameras immediately took to the Trade Towers and Matt Lauer began describing the situation as best he could with little information about what just happened.  At that point, it was an “explosion”.

Then the second plane hit.  I did what any other normal, sane person would do (read: anyone obsessed with news and current events) – I popped a tape into my VCR and hit record.  Yeah. A VCR.  Remember those things?

Looking back, I have no idea what really compelled me to do it other than I wanted to see what was going on by watching the tape when I got back from class.  Because I thought I was going to class that day.

As I got ready I made a phone call to my dad, who lived in Chicago at the time,  to make sure he wasn’t at work downtown in a tall building.  (Remember: no one knew what was going on then…)  He picked up the phone.

“Hey Dad, just calling to say hello and make sure you’re not working downtown today.”

“Nope.  Not in Chicago today.  I’m in Manhattan for the day on business. Do you know what’s going on?”

——

The line went dead.

He was calm and cool.  He didn’t know what was going on.  Just that something was going on.

The next moments were like a scene out of a movie.

I frantically called again and again. Everyone was trying to call loved ones.  Networks were bogged down.  20 minutes or so went by.  Could have been longer.

I finally got through.  I quickly and I’m sure eloquently, spit everything out as fast as I could because I didn’t want the line to cut out again before I told him:

“Planes hit the Trade Center.  2 of them.  There’s something going on at the Pentagon too.  They think it may have been another plane. They’re saying something else about another plane not responding.”

“We’re under attack.  I’m going to get to the airport to get home.”

“Dad.  DAD!  Do NOT go to the airport.  They’ve shut everything down.  They think they used planes!  Don’t go to the airport.”

“Dad?”

——-

The line went dead again.

I tried calling him again and again but it was hopeless.  It took 3 hours before I got ahold of him.  He told me he was okay.  He told me how he still hoped to get a flight out tomorrow.  He explained he was going to be sharing a hotel room with 4 other people he met since every hotel in a 50 mile radius was now booked by day business travelers hoping beyond hope to get home soon.  He told me the new New York City skyline was heartbreaking.

It took him another 5 days to get out of NYC.  He eventually rented a car and drove back to Chicago.  But he got home.  Thankfully. So thankful.

I’m sure in hindsight he wouldn’t have headed to the airport.  I’m sure in hindsight my dad wished he would have just rented a car, right off the bat.  I’m sure in hindsight he wouldn’t have asked me what was going on.  I’m sure in hindsight he probably wouldn’t have told me he thought we were under attack.

But that’s the thing about these moments we all remember.  The moments that change our lives.  They are raw, unfiltered.

Do you remember that?  Do you remember the panic we all felt?  Do you remember how those moments became a cohesive, unifying declaration that we all are Americans and we all are in this together?  Do you remember that?

I miss that.

In an election season filled with unending finger pointing and divisive issues that spew hate filled diatribes, it’s hard to remember that unity existed.  It’s hard to remember that beyond partisan differences, we can communicate effectively.  Respectfully.

Try to remember that this election.  We’re more than capable of unity in a sea of differences.  Let’s hope that on September 12th and beyond, the politicians remember it, too.

 

 —–

On a sidenote:  I just talked to my dad who again, is traveling for work today (he tends to do that a lot) and we reminisced about this time 11 years ago.  I was in full on panic mode trying to call him.  He was using his negotiating skills trying to get a hotel room.   And 11 years later, I’m blogging about it.  Times sure have changed.

Where were you on September 11th?

Newsworthy

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Logo credit: NBC

Yesterday I woke up and did my regular routine before work: I contemplated getting up and working out for so long that I only worked out for 35 minutes (hey! I worked out in the end…what did you do?) fed the Bax-man, showered, put my face on and watched the news.  I did manage to get some clothes on in between there.

I’ve watched the news nearly every morning and since elementary school my choice has usually been NBC’s Today Show. I remember when Bryant Gumble hosted.  Yeah. Remember that guy?

So, I turned on the Today show yesterday morning and caught a nice 10 minute segment about the new show, Dallas.  Well, it’s not a new show.  It’s just been updated from the 1978—1991 run it had.  Did you notice the part where I mentioned it was 10 minutes long? That EONS in live news broadcasting.  EONS on celebrating a television show being re-done.

“They spent a full 10 minutes discussing Dallas. Dallas!  As if nothing is going on in Syria right now,” I grumbled.  My Main Squeeze chuckled at my discontent.  He knows it’s not an unusual complaint for me.

In the Today show’s defense, I caught that Dallas segment in the late first half hour of the show – after they’ve touched on the big news stories of the day.  Usually read by Natalie Morales.  Previously read by Anne Curry.  Nerd alert!

You see, I have a very hard time not knowing what’s going on in the world.  It’s important to me.  I’ve made it a part of my daily routine to be informed.  I’m baffled at people who don’t seem to care about being informed. Those people all share one irritating, maddening trait: apathy.

In my many adventures abroad, it really bothered me to hear the general stereotype that Americans were uneducated about the issues going on in the world around them, including in their own country.  Yet, when I hear that people “really don’t care” about the upcoming election or that “it doesn’t affect me” or “the news is so depressing, why watch it?” they continue to prove that theory.

That apathy creates the world that we all live in.  It’s funny how tunes are changed when a lack of caring gets someone elected into office and those elected officials in turn make decisions that directly affect people’s relatives or paycheck or healthcare or ability to retire. Why does it take that to make people pick up a newspaper? Whoops, sorry. How old school.  I meant read the news online.  I love speaking with people who are engaging about current events.  It tells me they care or at the very least care to be informed.  When people shrug off the “depressing” news, it tells me this: it’s easier to remain in a bubble than deal with the uncomfortable feelings that news stories may bring up.

So you may not know what’s going on Syria right now.  You many not want to know.  Trust me, some of the images and stories are heart-wrenching.  But what if you knew someone who had relatives there?  What if you had relatives there? Shouldn’t we always listen to the news with this type of sentiment in mind?

It would be silly to claim that you or I should know everything going on in the world.  That’s for Brian Williams to handle.  But being more informed is never a bad thing.  Never.  Naivety isn’t very becoming.

So do this news-loving girl a favor and read something about what’s going on in Syria today.  Or read that Apple didn’t announce the new iPhone 5 at the WWDC! Or did you hear that one woman dared to drive in Saudi Arabia?

Learn something new everyday, huh?