[OT] where were you 9/11?

[lord_verminaard at yahoo.com (Brendan Doyle)]

I was working at a local Advance Auto parts back then- I was a year out of college and the job market was (still is) pitiful.  Our delivery guy that day was out so I had to make the parts runs.  I sort of liked it, no dealing with customers, I could listen to the radio and relax.  Well, I switched to Howard Stern (you know, back when he was like... funny?) and all I heard was a cacophony of voices all saying stuff like "oh my god" and "I can't believe this" and "This is so horrible".  I was like, WTF is going on, what are they doing in there?  Suspense builds until a few minutes later when Howard got everybody calmed down enough to announce what was happening.  I can remember exactly where I was, heading out of town on Route 13 south, and I was just on the edge of town and that's when it hit me.  I broke down in tears for a minute because it just felt like too much, ya know?  I also gained a bit of respect for Stern as he handled the events very well and
 did a much better job than all of the other radio station's news guys on reporting what was going on.

I got to my delivery stop, a dirty old garage out in the sticks that didn't even have a sign out front- I liked going there because the two guys usually had some sort of race car they were working on and I liked to look at all the junk laying around.  They were both huddled around an old 8-inch TV they had dug up somewhere watching the events.  I think I had worked out the initial shock by then but all I could do was stare.  I remember one of them also saying that "it looked like a movie."  

The rest of the day was mainly a blur.  Between customers we would all run to the back of the store and watch what was going on.

Here is the interesting part, and how it changed me.  When I got home, I was calling all of my friends and family just to hear familiar voices and make sure everyone was ok.  I had a very good friend living in DC at the time and also a friend of his who was a girl that I had a thing for back in College, but it was senior year and she was in Indiana at Earlham and I was in Ohio at Wilmington so it never worked out.  I called him and made sure he was ok, and asked if he had heard anything from his friend (who lived in Baltimore but worked in the DC area) and he said no.  So I called her up and we talked for a while- very strange.  It ended up opening up the line of communication for us again, and we started dating.  I eventually moved out to Baltimore and lived there for two years- and got a job as a parts guy at a VW dealership.  Well, there were some old-school watercooled guys there that I became friends with, and I got turned on to A1 VW's, and then to
 Sciroccos.  Bought my '84 from under a tree and the rest is history.  I was with that girl for 5 years, and we finally broke up last year but how strange things work out sometimes.  I have to think that none of that probably would have happened if it were not for 9-11.

Brendan

----- Original Message ----
From: Spewey <spewey@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 3:40:06 PM
Subject: [OT] where were you 9/11?

Thinking about the job I had going to Canada reminded me of 2001 and 
hence what my day was like when the towers fell.  I know half of you 
hate me and are afraid to respond despite being grown men but I thought 
this might be interesting since the world changed.  Not political, just 
real life story sharing depending on your time zone or location.








       
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