My condolences to all those who were affected or lost their lives that day. The reach of 9/11 went far beyond the attacks themselves. It reached the men and women who went overseas to fight for our freedom, seeking justice, and driven by an understandable desire for retaliation.
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I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live. I was working in Seattle at the time, working nights, doing data work for the grocery chain Albertsons. I had a Nextel phone (remember those?) at the time, and one of my really good friends kept alerting me on the walkie-talkie feature. I finally answered, pretty annoyed because I knew he knew I was working nights, and all he said was, “Turn on the TV.”
I asked him why this mattered so much, and he insisted I just turn on the TV, and that's all he would say. I asked what channel and he said it didn’t matter. I turned it on, and sure enough, the first channel I turned to was showing the towers. I just sat there, completely shocked and in silence that morning.
None of us went to work that night. We just sat and watched, along with the rest of the world, in horror.