Like so many other important events, most people remember where they were when they heard about the planes hitting the twin towers. I lived in Washington at the time, not far from Seattle, and there were few people directly affected by the attacks, though my friend Suni and I were. Here’s my story:
Suni lives in Japan, but was a college student at Central Washington University, and that’s how we became friends. In August of 2001, I dropped her off at Sea-Tac so she could go back to Japan to see her family. That was the last time I ever went with someone all the way to the terminal. I was going to pick her up at the airport when she came back on Friday, September 7th.
In the meantime, I was staying with my parents since I was planning on moving to California later in September and didn’t need to stay by CWU anymore. I probably couldn’t have gotten just a 1-month job, so I passed the time helping my dad build a garden in the back yard.
On September 6th, Suni called to tell me she was going to stay in Japan for a few more days so she wouldn’t miss her grandma’s birthday. She would be coming the night of Monday, September 10th instead. I wasn’t thrilled about that, since the 10th is my dad’s birthday, so I’d have to miss dinner with the family. But what could I do, leave Suni at the airport?
Suni called again later to say there was a typhoon in Japan and all the flights were delayed or cancelled, so her new flight would bring her to Seattle on the morning of Tuesday, September 11th. Perfect! I wouldn’t have to miss dinner after all, though I’m sure Suni wasn’t having fun hanging out at Narita with who knows how many other travelers.
My plan for the next morning was to wake up, get dressed, and leave. I probably wouldn’t have listened to the radio on the 70-minute drive to Sea-Tac. I most likely would have been listening to mini discs, which of course wouldn’t have any kind of news on them. I wouldn’t have known anything had happened until I showed up to an airport that was completely deserted except for Guardsmen toting M16’s. It would have been one of them who told me what had happened.
But that’s now how it went down. My mom got sick from something she ate at my dad’s birthday dinner, so she was up early with a stomach ache, watching the news. I woke up when she was hysterical on the phone with someone. I remember her screaming “OH MY GOD, THE BUILDING IS COMING DOWN!!!”
I jumped out of bed to see what the hell was going on, right as they were replaying the second plane hitting. Then they showed the building collapsing. I watched in silent disbelief until the second building collapsed as well. Then I heard the reporter mention something about grounding all domestic flights and sending international flights back where they came from. I was supposed to be at the airport in two hours. If they turned Suni’s flight around, it would be a minimum of 12 hours before she’d be able to call me and tell me about it, if the plane even had enough fuel to make it back to Japan. I guess the FAA people thought of the fuel problem too, because next they announced that international flights could land as scheduled. Oh cool!
But then they announced that Asian flights would be diverted to Vancouver. I considered trying to pick her up in Vancouver, as that was only two hours away, but decided that would be a bad idea since there would be way too many people at that airport and I’d be dealing with three countries worth of immigration hassle.
The story changed two more times. Instead of Vancouver the planes would land as scheduled. Oh wait, no, they’re going to Vancouver again. I thought they better decide fast, since there are some planes already here and need somewhere to land. Vancouver it was.
I called Suni’s airline to verify, and as expected, the lines were completely jammed. So I waited. A few hours later, she called me to say she was in Yellowknife. Whoa! That’s really deep into the Northwest Territories! There was no way I could pick her up in Yellowknife. She said her plane was the only one that went there, and since it was just them and Yellowknife is such a small and out of the way place, they all got to leave the plane. The airline paid for their meals and they got to sleep in cots at the RCAF base. Apparently the travelers who ended up in Vancouver didn’t have it so good. They had to stay on their planes the whole time they were there. I told Suni to call me as soon as she knew they were leaving and approximately when they’d be in Seattle.
Suni had no idea what the schedule was, and it seemed like no one else did either. After 21 straight days working on the garden in the back yard, I had to abandon the project and just wait by the phone and TV all day long.
Tuesday passed without any further incident or updates, though the news reported some turban-wearing Indians getting killed by ignorant gunmen as “revenge.”
Wednesday was more of the same. Replays of the events in New York, the aftermath at the Pentagon, speculation about Osama bin Laden. Bush talking about all kinds of stuff. But no word from Suni.
Thursday was the same as Wednesday. Endless hours sitting on the couch waiting. But right as we sat down to eat dinner, Suni called. She was at Sea-Tac and ready to be picked up. I rushed to the airport as fast I could and when I got there I had to go through a checkpoint. Guardsmen with flashlights and machine guns, dressed in full battle gear, wanted to know who I was and what I was doing there. I told them I was picking up a friend who had been stuck in Canada since Tuesday because her plane was in the air when the attacks happened. They let me through.
It wasn’t hard to find Suni. There were barely any people waiting outside, and even fewer cars. I got out of my truck to help her with her suitcase, and a Guardsman immediately yelled at me to get back into my vehicle. I guess they were worried about bombs. I apologized and we were on our way.
Things never really got back to normal. I moved to California as planned, and when I flew home that Christmas, the Oakland Airport was being patrolled by Guardsmen with M16’s, though there was nothing like that at Sea-Tac. I can’t take my friends all the way to the terminal to say good bye anymore either. Now, ten years later, I don’t see any signs of improvement.
I know my story isn’t nearly as sad as others, but it’s the one I have. Thanks for reading.
.:Bohan
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