tomorrow is 11 09 01
Out of context: Reply #46
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- Duane0
on 9/11 i was in the air on my way home from a week long vacation and press check in hong kong for the return to castle wolfenstein tins. for 18 hours i watched the blip on the map on the plane travel towards my destination of san francisco. as we near the coast i search for the golden gate bridge but instead see big green mountains. slightly confused i watch as we near the ground and notice a lot of air canada planes around. i tell the old chinese couple next to me that this is definitely not san francisco as the captain simultaneously comes over the loudspeaker announcing an attack on the u.s. he patches in cnn over the headphones as more international flights build up behind us on the runway. as we listen to the chaos in nyc we are interrupted by news of the attack on the pentagon. scary. three hours later we finally start to disembark the plane and are welcomed by officers in the tunnel between the plane and airport. i get frisked, scanned by metal detectors, sniffed by dogs and then the contents of my carry on luggage are unpacked, destroyed and left for me to sort out after i am cleared by security. all checked baggage is impounded so i have no toiletries and only the clothes on my back. in the airport there are thousands of people. so many in fact that i am eventually have to leave the airport in order to make room for others. i exit the airport and get hit by a cool breeze - great, i'm wearing shorts and thin t-shirt. i overhear a businessman from seoul i met in hong kong getting the next to last room at a hotel in vancouver and yell out 'i'll take the other room' he relays the message and i jump in a limo with him to head to the hotel and turn on a tv. it's the first news coverage i've seen. surreal. it took a week and a half to get home from vancouver, each additional day resulting in more phone calls trying to find a way home and another trip to the store to get something to wear. planes, trains, boats, rental cars are all booked. finally i get a flight out of seattle and have a distant family friend in washington pick me up in vancouver and take me to seattle. all told, the hotel, plane flight, toiletries, clothes, etc. cost over $5,000.
i'll never forget that day. it made me appreciate being home.
sorry for the long post!