tenth
11/09/2011
It was evening, probably about 8pm or so. I was down Liang Seah Street having dinner with a co-worker, probably griping about work, when I received a call on my cellphone. My first cellphone, to be precise. It was a tiny blue Nokia. I loved it.
It was my then-manager, and he sounded a little hassled. Where are you, he asks. Are you near the office? I say Yes. (What now, is what I’m really thinking.) Then he says a few words that I didn’t quite understand. I was to head back to the office to update the front page because he couldn’t get to a computer.
I hang up and my co-worker says, what is that?
“Ricki called. He says a plane flew into the World Trade Center in New York.” I was trying to make sense of what that meant, it seemed ridiculous. A plane flew into a building. Was it an accident? Is it the WTC in NY, really?
We didn’t really have it in us to finish dinner, I can’t really remember if we did, but my American co-worker sure seemed quite shaken.
We hurry back to the office – Wisma Alsagoff was steps away – and I update the front page with the news. None of the local news agencies had picked it up, but in the US – the news was a little scanty. I try my best, but it seemed surreal once more news trickles in. We turn the tv on, and hear about the second plane. That’s when some sort of frantic misery swept over me, but I probably neglected to even pay attention to my co-worker, who probably felt 100x more upset.
The next couple of days were a mess. And while it wasn’t an event that affected us directly, the sheer magnitude of what happened had to have affected everyone who could understand the magnitude of the loss that occurred that day.
And we continue to live with the fallout from that one day.
So yes, I remember. I remember who I was with. I remember what I was doing. I remember my friends reaction and anguish. I remember not knowing completely what happened till I got back to the office, and turned on the telly. I also remember looking at it like it was fiction. I remember only comprehending what had been done in the days after. Hearing the accounts, getting feedback from users who used our products to get in touch.
And I suppose it’s something you will never forget.
