Sitting at a table

The hum of the cooling fans even though louder than I prefer had faded into the background like white noise that I had come to accept and ignore. I like a quite environment so why I chose to work around electronic equipment with noisy fans escapes me when I stop to think about it.

I'm sitting at the end of an eight foot table the kind with folding legs that you find you find in church basements and meeting halls. In front of me is my laptop computer and the rest of the table is filled with drawings, papers and other paraphernalia involved in keeping our telephone system in working order. I don't have a desk here in the telephone room as it is only one of a number of places that I spend my day and I may be here only a few minutes or several hours. Today I plan on being here at least half the day so I have settled in and am working at a project.

I do spend enough time down here in this room that I have a few personal items here like a large tank cup for water and a broadcast radio. This morning I have the radio on WPTT located at 1360 on the AM dial and I'm listening to my favorite talk show host Jerry Bowyer. Depending on how entrenched I get in the work on my laptop the radio may zone out and though I'm listening I catch only a word here and there. From years of listening to public safety radio (police scanners) I have developed the ability to not pay attention and yet catch a change in voice inflection or a keyword that brings my focus back to the radio. I heard Jerry say that the news division had reported that a small plane had crashed into the side of the World Trade Center in New York.

This immediately caught my attention and I turned up the volume on the radio and rebalanced my foreground/background attention level on the radio. I remember thinking that even a small plane like a Piper Cub hitting that building would be a catastrophe especially on a weekday morning. I didn't think it could do much damage to the building but surly would cause a great deal of damage on the ground below. I stopped for a moment and said a prayer for the pilot and anyone affected by this accident.

It wasn't long until the word came on the radio that indeed a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and that it was a large passenger jet not a private aircraft. A knot formed in my stomach because I knew if this was a commercial air liner that it was no accident. At that point I had no idea how bad it actually was. I jumped from one radio station on the dial trying to gather all the information that I could and the more I heard only confirmed my worst suspicions.

I was in the telephone room alone in a far corner of the building and I decided to go out onto our shop floor to learn what others had heard. I found everyone standing in small groups around radios listening and the expression on their faces told me some of what they were thinking. I then went into the room that houses our maintenance crew and found that they had commandeered a television and were close enough to the outside of the building to get a signal. I don't know what channel was on but I got my first glimpse of the burning tower and seconds latter watched in horror as a second plane knifed through the adjoining tower. I thought to myself "My God! We are under attack".

I returned to the telephone room and started calling family and friends telling them to get to a place where they could see a television or hear a broadcast radio and pay close attention to what was going on around them. I had no idea where this day was headed but I knew it was a dangerous time even though there appeared to be no immanent threat in our area.

As time wore on I started to hear about some event happening near Greater Pittsburgh Airport involving the control tower. Then came word that buildings down town particularly the US Steel building were being evacuated. I decided then it was time to go. I called my manager who told me that our company president had advised that anyone who wanted to leave to be with their families should do so. I got to my car and went straight home and I remember having an eerie feeling as I exited on the street next to my home. It was very quite and there was no one out on any of the sidewalks. This feeling was quickly reinforced when I head what sounded like a screech over head and looked up to see a military fighter pass overhead at a relatively low level. I believe it was an F16.

The rest of that day was a combination of blurs and crystal sharp moments in time. Some I can't be sure about and other I could draw you a picture of. I remember praying, a lot, that day. It seems like just yesterday and now I understand why my parents got that look in their eyes when the would describe December 7th 1941 to me as a child. This even though the horror they endured was thousands of miles away not right in their own back yard.

There are few incidents in peoples lives that leave such an impression. The only other one in my lifetime was the day President Kennedy was assassinated. I can give you a complete description of where I was that day, who I was talking with and where I was when I head confirmation that the President had indeed died in that Dallas hospital.

So today I stop and remember seven years ago and I think about all that has changed in our lives since then. I bow my head and pray to God that he will watch over all of our military personal who continue to fight the war that was started that fate full day. I pray that he will continue to provide our nation with leaders who will make decisions that will keep the country safe from future attack. Most of all I pray that my grand children will grow up without a December 7th or September 11th to reflect on when they are my age. For these things I pray.