Sitting here at work, working 'cos we're upgrading to oracle 9i, as well as some unix app upgrades, and it just hit me that today is september 11, or 9/11 (as the yanks call it)
What were you doing on 11Sep2001?
I was on the late shift that day (1200-2230) - was still working for Ansett at the time, and so I got up late (around 8-8.30) and turned the TV on to channel3, when they had a newsflash about the WTC and such, so I quickly flicked over to channel 1, and watched in shock as they recounted the bone-chilling events that had transpired... As I sat there watching it, still groggy and semi-somnolent, I had a rather selfish thought - it was "oh sh1t, work is going to suck today", which was quickly over-ridden by a distinct feeling of self-guilt...
So I decided to go to work early, and got ready mechanically, my mind clouded by a hazy fugue, not really thinking anything... Didn't really notice at the time, but I can truly say that I can't remember what the traffic was like driving in to work that day...
Got to work, and the usual hubbub of an IT service desk was eerily subdued (which is weird seeing as we supported a combined total of nearly 20,000 staff, the majority spread across AU and NZ)... There's a tv (which we use for monitoring the schedules pages in teletext as we provide the info for those screens) in a central location (right by the a couple of memorex/telex green screen terminals)... It was currently on channel 1, which was providing the main coverage of the events, and updates as they came...
With the security lockdown in place, with regards to communications in and out of N. America, we had lost track of 3 of our planes... I was brought up to speed with regards as to what the operating procedures were for the shift (certainly not standard, by any stretch of the imagination)... The phones and the queues (the alternate ways that users could log issues/requests were via email or a website) were, not surprisingly, quiet...
Murmured conversation carried on in small groups, an unconcious drawing together of colleagues and friends seeking to draw comfort, strength and solace in the face of this manufactured disaster... I called an ex, whom I knew had a sister that worked in NYC, subduing feelings of awkwardness in an effort to be of some help to someone... Thankfully their sibling was safe...
The surreality of the situation will always stick clearly in my mind extended for the entire shift, lingering over the next few days and never fully clearing for weeks after the event...
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i was then working the graveyard shift when I was still in market research. we were doing a UK project, and the English respondents were our window to what was happening halfway across the globe. talk about surrealism.
at the time, protocols didn't seem to matter. the supervisors weren't being strict about compliance procedures, talk time, nor reaching the quota. it was a time to reach out to the world, and be part of humanity in the middle of the tragedy. more so than any other time, we were all wide awake, and there was not a soul that was not touched during this shift.
i began counting the planes, and whilst doing so, i still didn't know if it was Hollywood or terrorism.
i can't remember how i slept after work.
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