From: F Space <fspace@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 19:59:21 -0700 (PDT)F Space wrote, on 9/11/01
Hi all,
As some of you know I travel quite a bit for work, and often stay at the Marriott World Trade Center. So I guess I was sort of maximizing my risk.
In fact, I was in the Marriott World Trade Center when the first "explosion" occurred. I was just dressing for work so had my glasses off, had just buttoned up my shirt. I heard what I thought was nearby thunder ripping over the hotel. I looked out the window to see if there was lightning. What I did see, even without glasses on, was confusing... A big chunk of yellow, curved isolation wafting down to the ground in front of my hotel window. My window overlooked the Plaza between the two towers. So in front of me is building 2 with insulation floating around it. In the corner of my eye I notice metal shrapnel raining down. This all occurred in about 1 second.
My brain switches into primitive mode:
Trade Center... Bomb!!!!!
GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS and OUT.I run immediately for the door. When my hand touches the door handle I realize I have no pants on. My spider sense is on. I'm wondering why the building didn't really SHAKE more violently? It really felt like a thunderclap overhead. I cautiously go back to the bed, towards THAT BIG WINDOW, grab my pants, and put them on while hopping to the door again. I run out the door zipping my pants. I'm 2 steps away when I realize I took the pants with nothing in them... no wallet, room key, etc. At the same time I hear the door make that Secure "click" sound. It's locked. I realize no one will let me back in. I look for the exit signs. I can't really read them but I can see the neon. I first head for the Elevator Exit, say "oh wait... duh!" then go to the side of the hotel (towards the North), and head down the stairs quickly. The stairwell is full of Marriott maids in uniform. Some are holding others up saying "It's going to be OK", others are saying "Oh my god, oh my god..." over and over again. Pacing themselves down the stairs.
We get down into the lobby. The security direct us to the south exit. I'm out in front of the hotel with no shoes. I jog gingerly over to Vesey St, under that walkway I take to work every day (the one you see on TV now all the time), and across the street to World Financial Center. I want to find someone I know since I'm on the streets of NYC with nothing.
The cell phones aren't working. I want to call home to say I'm ok and find anyone in NY to help me. I ask the security at the American Express entrance if the building is being evacuated and they say yes, so I follow the evacuation across Vesey st and squint looking for a familiar face, or even anyone from the company I was working for: Lehman Bros. Nope, mostly Merryl Lynch. I get my first look at the North tower. We're talking to each other trying to figure out what we are seeing. Some people say a plane ran into the tower. I thought maybe a light plane. But so much fire, it couldn't be a light plane. Maybe a light plane with a bomb in it? I'm thinking someone would jump out? Someone else says no, they saw a jet fly into the trade center. We can't understand him. But then we notice all the energy went into the building, not out. The police are telling us to move down Vesey to make room for others. So I walk north to an open area now about 4 blocks from the trade center. We're speculating if the building could collapse. We'd all seen those shows on PBS saying high rises are build with interlocked cubes so they can't just collapse from a single hit. But there is so much fire. We're wondering if the steel is super heating and what that would mean. We're also seeing people jumping from the building. They look like ants compared to the building, but they fall straight down, unlike the shrapnel and glass still raining down. I'm so glad I don't have my glasses to see that. We keep saying "don't look at that, you don't want that in your dreams". I saw people responding to at least 20 people jumping down.
At the same time I borrow someone's 2-way pager to get an email to Annabelle and my boss telling them Ethan is fine, WTC on fire. The guy says it's not working. I find another guy to send the same message. I'm wondering if I'll be able to get into the hotel to get my stuff still.
THEN BLAM. That second blast. This is DEFINITELY no accident. This is no place to be. We're getting the fuck out of the area.
I follow a group of people along the West highway jogging lane along the river. I start talking to one guy and his colleagues. From Merryl Lynch also. I tell them my story of no glasses or shoes. I remember only one address in NYC. All my contacts are in the hotel. They help me avoid the water in my socks. I follow them to midtown. They said to follow them and they'd direct me to where I can find my way to Ave A and my friend's house.
It's a perfect NYC day. The weather is perfect. Light breeze, very calm. There is no sound in the air. We're strolling along commenting on how nice this new jogging strip is.
On the way they give me $40. I'm so embarrassed. I'm one of those homeless guys in NYC. I get their cards promising to pay them back. They say not to worry about it. Then that rumble of the second tower collapsing. I can't see it well without my glasses, but people are telling me the reports from the radio. We still figure it must be part of the building, not the entire tower. We still think they can't Do that.
Later the second tower also does that. We can't even really see it from the distance we're at. Plus it's such a big cloud of debris. The cloud of smoke and crap is filling the sky.
We walk over West 18th st. There is a public phone there. On the corner someone talks to me and I tell them I have no shoes or glasses. They ask me questions. The people I was walking with continue walking. These new friends are British journalists for the Observer. I tell them what happened from my perspective and they give me their card and say to call if I need anything. People are being SO kind and generous. I talk to another group of guys at the pay phone and tell them I have no glasses or shoes. This one guy says he has a second pair with him after asking my shoe size. The other guys give me more money. One guy gives me a 20, the other guy has a few bills and pulls back on the 20, saying "oh, you already got some, so that'll be about $35 right?". I feel so bad taking the money at all, but I'm scared I'll be stuck with nothing and no one who knows me. At least I memorized my calling card number, if the phones would work!
I thank them and cross the street towards Ave. A. Now alone again, I sit on the edge of a store window corner and cry with my hands over my face. I get it together enough to order a juice and bagel from a bagel cart on the corner. I tell the guy what happened, that these strangers gave me money and shoes. I do notice he still charges me for the stuff. But it feels good to pay for it. I finally have some control again. I can buy something to eat.
I keep walking down and over to 14th st. I ask store folks where I could get glasses. They direct me around and I try to find it, but I can't see the street signs or store signs that well. I do locate the Optometrist offices but they are still closed. I decide to continue to Ave A.
When I make it to the building my friend Samantha is there. We HUG for a LONG time. Samantha says thank god you're alive, and they were so worried. I tell her I was there. We go upstairs and I collapse into her hair cutting chair. Her boyfriend Nat is there. I call Annabelle and say I'm alive, and get my credit card numbers and numbers of people in NYC.
From there we watched TV and got my "life" together. I went to a nearby Optometrist and they gave me some contact lenses. 2 days of temporary lenses. I've memorized my prescription. This was always a fear of mine living in Earthquake territory, of being outside with no glasses. I can suddenly see again after 3 hours. WOW. They won't let me pay for them. He tells me to come back tomorrow to see the Dr to order contact lenses and new glasses. I also go to a nearby AT&T place to replace my cell phone to replace the one in the hotel. I realize I will probably not see my stuff again. There is trouble locating my account (since I was originally with another company Cellular One which was bought by AT&T). I'm laughing inside since my company makes software to solve these problems. The cell phones also aren't really working because the batteries are so dead. It's taking awhile to get this thing done. Finally I have the cell phone. Turns out later It's not programmed right and I'll have to go back.
Anyway, things are more normal for me. I have shoes and contact lenses and contacts of people in NYC. The phone guy didn't ask for any ID, just keyed the card numbers in (of course... it's NYC). In reality I realize this is not just the usual NYC, this is people acting at their best.
Anyway, from then our experience is shared. We've all watched it.
Needless to say this was a very traumatic event for me. It was a SHARP jolting trauma, but I'm recovering. I was not physically harmed, and by chance my evacuation path and lack of glasses kept me from seeing alot of burning bodies or body parts or whatever. So my personal experience is not nearly that of others who were actually in the trade center building, since we exited away from the tower plaza, not across it.
If any of you know me, I've lost many of my contacts, so if you could get the word out it would be great to get a quick email so I can rebuild my email/phone list. I have a lot of it backed up, but like many of us was lazy about backing up my contacts since about a year ago.
I hope none of you knew anyone who perished in the building. Lehman Bros was on the 40th floor and got out fine.
-Ethan
F-Space
Psycho Sonic Noise Environments
Ethan Port and Scot Jenerik
http://MOBILIZATION.COM/
FSpace@Yahoo.Com