writing prompt re: sept 11

September 11, 2001

It was a Tuesday. I know that without having to look it up on Google.

The weather in Connecticut that day was perfect. The sky was blue, the breeze was warm and I had driven my beloved 87 Mustang convertible to work that day, top down, even though it was 530 am when I left home. The weatherman had promised a beautiful day, and he was good at his job, so I trusted him.  By the time I reached work, the sun was just coming up and the night crew was on their way out.  I loved my job as a front-end manager (in training) for the large supermarket chain that is so popular in Connecticut and Massachusetts.  This store was new to me and I was happily in the process of getting to know my new “gang”.  The first of the cashiers arrived as I unlocked the front doors and we finished setting up the store together. 

The first couple of hours were very slow and I was looking for things to do, so I began to return items left behind to there proper shelves.  The first few daily customers had already come and gone when the second cashier arrived.  She ran in. she never ran, she was usually very steady on her feet and was never phased by much going on around her.
A customer followed her in, came over to me and told me about the plane crashing into the tower.  I was stunned.  I as so stunned I could not move.  I felt tears forming in my eyes as I just stared at her.  She was crying too.  By that time, the other customer and cashier had heard as well.  We found the radio and turned it on, we only heard a little blip about it, so we went upstairs to the break room and turned on the TV.  We watched in terror as the second plane hit the tower.  What was going on? Who was doing this to us? Moreover, of course, why were they?  It was an appalling thing to watch, and I had to leave the room. Just as I was turning to go, the towers fell. 

The towers fell.  It was the scariest thing I had ever seen.  I was afraid down to my bones.  I was afraid for my country, my family and especially my children.  How were they going to remember this day?  They were so young.  I went through the rest of they day with a lump in my throat.  I remember walking by the seafood department and just stopping in my tracks and crying.  The store was quiet all day, the customers that came in did not feel like talking, and the employees were all in shock. The feeling of helplessness spread through the store. We were all in this together.  We went home to our families that night and held them close.  My husband had to work that night and I asked him if it was okay if the girls could sleep in our bed.  I had to make sure they were ok.  I had to make sure I was ok.  As I held my girls close, we were all in tears, young as they were; they knew the world was about to change.