I was in South Austin, TX living with my husband in our little apt. I was working at Mervyn's at the time, and before I went to lunch that day, I saw the first plane hit. I was discusted, and knew immediatelly that terrorism had EVERYTHING to do with it.
When I got home, my husband was watching the television, I ate my lunch, and before I headed out the door, the second plane hit! The scale of the terrorist attack put me in awe, so I stayed and watched the tele a little longer, because I couldnt pull away.
And then, the towers began to fall...... The first one fell, and I broke down immediately and cried in my husband's arms. He had to hold me up slightly, because my knees buckled a little bit. He also began to weep. All of those innocents in those buildings, just gone. Forever. Then you wonder..Why? What for? What's the point of all this? I finally pulled myself together, and drove back to work. I felt so hollow, like a ghost, just going through the motions of driving my car. I was still aware of my surroundings, but I couldn't bring my thoughts away from what I just saw.
Ironically enough, on the same day, my (indifferent, mean~*bleep*, no sex having, grouchy old woman) manager had told me if I was late getting to work, or coming back from lunch or whatever, (even if there was an "act of GOD" was how she put it) she would have to let me go. And of course, about half way back from lunch, I got stuck in traffic, by a train!!! I knew for sure that my job was over at Mervyn's, but I just didn't care at the time. I just sat in my car, and sobbed.
I was let go that day, all of my pay was handed to me and I walked out the doors. My husband called me, and asked the obvious.
"Did she fire you?" he said. "Yes, she did." I said.
"Are you OK?", he said.
"As okay as I can be, I guess.", I said. "They gave me all of my pay ($475) and sent me home."
And then my husband said........" I got paid today, Wanna go buy a car??!?!"
"WHAAAAT! Are you SURE?
?", I said.
"YEP.", he said!!!
And so, we did. The dealership was a ghost town. It was very surreal, only one or two people in the building, no other customers looking at cars. You could hear a pin drop, and every word that we where saying. For instance, everytime the car salesman left to get paperwork: "WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!?!?!?! THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END AND WE ARE BUYING A FREAKING CAR, ARE YOU SURE WE SHOULD DO THIS?>??" Upon the salesman's return, ther would be nervous laughing and silly banter, just trying to make things "more real", so to speak. We sat there, went through the paperwork, and bought a new Jeep. Being that the american economy was the way it was back then, I think we did a good thing.
So, on Sept. 11, 2001, I watched the worst terrorist attack on american soil, got fired from my job at mervyn's, and bought a 2001 Jeep Wrangler TJ SE with my husband. THat's where I was and what I did on that day, and it still fells like it happend yesterday, and I think it always will be that way for all of us. Never Forget 9/11.........