One chapter in my memoir is titled "Tragedy in 2001," telling what I was doing in the months and days just before the attacks. Here is a synopsis. I was working at a restaurant under a new boss who began that summer after the previous owners sold the place. The new boss was indeed a horrible boss, yelling at everyone, including his wife and their son. Work was now more like a prison camp, and it just got worse as the summer went on. Fortunately, I was able to get off for two different cousins's weddings, one in July and one in September. I ended up getting fired just before the second wedding; the horrible last day was the Sunday before Labor Day 2001. In the days that followed, I went looking for another job, to see movies and then to the wedding, which was just three days before the bombings.
On the day of the bombings, after trying to keep up with the news on TV, I needed to be out and was I ever glad I made that decision. I saw that the Dollar Tree was opening in my town, so I went by to pick up an application and was immediately hired.
What were you doing that day?
How interesting that you got a job on that date! I was on my way to a computer class. It was an important class, but it was pretty much useless from Tuesday to Friday because everyone was distracted. They should've just canceled it.
ReplyDeleteThat was also the official start date for a new job for me. It was such a shock seeing those planes fly into the world trade center.
ReplyDeleteI was watching Murder She Wrote.
ReplyDeleteI lived on the lakefront in downtown Chicago and after being evacuated from my government job I was evacuated from my home by the army and the Chicago Police. The Air Force had a gazillion planes in front of my building, and the entire downtown lakefront, ready to shoot down a plane. I lived next to a building the terrorists considered their target #3. It was the easiest target to hit with a plane as it was closest to Lake Michigan.
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