folks, i wrote this last night but my earthlink was compromised for
northeasterners. i decided not to edit at all...
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my neighborhood, even my apartment, smells like smoke. here in my part of
brooklyn, even ten miles away, we are downwind of what used to be world
trade center. it is still burning and we can smell it. i don't really
smell death, but i can't help but imagining...
i was on a commute train from brooklyn across the manhattan bridge at 8:50
this morning and the conductor said 'if you're going to world trade center,
please don't as we have reports of an airplane having hit one of the towers'
so as we came out onto the bridge we all went to look, and the north tower
was on fire. very scary, terrifying. the conductor even said, 'if you look
out the window, you can see wtc on fire'
but as we were watching, a plane flew into the south tower. i didn't
actually see the plane, but i saw the explosion and i have never been more
frightened in my life. people on my train went from perturbed to crying and
screaming. our conductor said again 'again, if you look out the window, you
can see wtc on fire' and someone said, 'just get us the fuck off this
bridge!' i felt so under attack.
i'm trying to just give experience, not my opinions. but i do think that we
are at war, and we in new york might feel that a little more strongly than
the rest of you, right now.
one blessing. kay ashley, my good friend who made a beautiful impression at
jonifest last week, worked in wtc until two weeks ago. she'd told me that
she'd changed jobs, but i'd forgotten and was completely freaking out. in
manhattan, we could barely get a phone signal, on cell or other phone line
for most of the day today (i spent the day with my sister) but i'd been able
to leave a couple of messages on kay's home phone. many hours later i
finally got a call from kay, who now works very close to the wtc, heard the
explosions, was trapped in her building for several hours, and had to escape
from manhattan walking across a bridge (like many folks). she was fine but
jittered when she called, we spoke briefly and she now has to make other
calls, especially to all the people who didn't know that she wasn't at wtc
any more.
i'm so happy she's alive. i don't know anyone that has died. i do NOT
expect that statistic to last.
patrick, with no more to say
np - channel 2. i don't have cable, and every other ny station broadcast
from wtc. i have one tv station...
