Brain Drain Blog

Posts Tagged ‘9/11’

In memory of the day that marked the end of life as I knew it and my flight attendant career , I offer an adaptation (pulled from frantic writings) of my personal account. This was written to reassure family and friends of my safety, to reach out to those I hadn’t heard from, and to process the day’s events in some way that made sense, if only chronologically.

September 13, 2001
Tuesday and Beyond

On Tuesday I arrived at the Continental Training Center across the river from lower Manhattan at 8:30 a.m. My three hour drive from Albany that morning was basked in sunlight. Bands of fog, like webs of spun gold, stretched between the trees. By the time I reached the skyline of New York, it shimmered with the warm hues of sunrise against a crisp blue sky. I cursed myself for leaving my camera on the kitchen counter.

Upon my arrival, I sat in the Continental Training Center’s cafe reviewing for the FAA’s annual training. As I tried to recall things not published in our manual, things like weapons identification and hijacking procedures, people approached the windows with urgency saying, “You can’t see it from here.” I asked what they were looking for and couldn’t believe what I was told.

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