September 11, 2006
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Recollection
Many other folks are doing the same, so I may as well…
I
woke up a little before 9AM; I had a class that began in a couple
hours. One of my roommates was asleep; the other was already off to
class at the Mt. Vernon campus (via shuttlebus). I stepped into the
shower.About halfway through, I heard a whole mess load of
sirens going south on 21st Ave. (in the direction of Arlington, VA). I
mean a whole mess load, to where you know something is up. I figure
I’ll hear about it on the evening local news or tomorrow’s Washington
Post, Section B. I get out of the shower.I change and then
the phone rings. My roommate’s mother (the one who’s off to class now)
was on the other end. Very concerned, she asked if her son was there. I
said he was off to class, but I could take a message. She said to let
him know that she called and to call her back as soon as possible; no
other details. I pour myself some cereal and sit down at the computer
to sign onto AOL.I get something like 6-7 IMs as soon as I sign on. Same conversation:
Guy: are you ok?
Me: …yeah, what’s up?
Guy: you don’t know?
Me: Huh? I just woke up
Guy: turn on the tv
Me: What channel?
Guy: #(@$ any channel!I
turn on the TV to CNN. I wake up my roommate who was still sleeping,
“Um… you might want to take a look at this…” I finished breakfast
and figured, hell, I don’t know what else I’m gonna do, so I’ll go to
class.Classes were cancelled, of course. By this time (around
11AM), Pennsylvania Avenue was like a parking lot. After speaking with
a few other students, I went back to my dorm building. Everyone else on
my floor was out in the hallway by now.The streets cleared by
that afternoon, and Washington was like a ghost town. There were rumors
and everything about other explosions around the city (I believe the
rumor about one at the State Department was on account of people
hearing the “explosions” from military jets that were dispatched to the
area). I wasn’t about to keep some low profile myself, just how I am,
but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about my family back in
Tennessee.
That’s about it. From my end, it seems rather mundane. That may be on account of the fact that I still remember every minute. KF
