09-08-2020, 03:55 PM
It was a normal Tuesday morning at a message paging center where I worked at the time, in Altamonte Springs, FL. This type of business no longer exists, but on that morning we were busy taking calls for doctor's hospitalist groups, a national propane company, and scads of smaller commercial accounts. The training manager and operations manager ladies started frantically trying to set up a box TV on a cart so we could all see. Both of them looked stressed, so I asked Colleen the training manager what was going on. She said, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center." Huh? Well, that wasn't very smart. I thought it was a little Cessna or something, but no she said. It was a 747. Oooh. That's gonna do some damage. She and Tammy got the TV set up just in time for us to see the second plane hit, live.
After that it was surreal. Our call volume suddenly dropped as the whole world was watching at that point. We still had to stay logged in for what calls came through though. An hour or so later, when the first tower fell, crumbling into dust, I was so upset I jumped up with the headset still on. I started babbling, "They blew up the World Trade Center! They blew up the World Trade Center." I must have looked freaked out and stressed by then since the manager told me to go home early.
After that it was surreal. Our call volume suddenly dropped as the whole world was watching at that point. We still had to stay logged in for what calls came through though. An hour or so later, when the first tower fell, crumbling into dust, I was so upset I jumped up with the headset still on. I started babbling, "They blew up the World Trade Center! They blew up the World Trade Center." I must have looked freaked out and stressed by then since the manager told me to go home early.
