A lot of people are thinking about what happened and what they were doing 20 years ago today, so I thought I would add my two cents.
I was at work at a bottled water company in Phoenix. As a QC tech my job was to test the water every hour. Any spare time I had was spent setting the next line up.
Just when I thought I could go to the bathroom, a spring water tanker shows up with a sample to be tested before he could unload. The driver says an airplane hit a skyscraper in New York. I think he is kidding, but because he has a radio in his truck and we have none in the plant, I can’t call him out on it.
An hour or so later the second spring tanker arrives and the second driver says both World Trade Center buildings have been hit and one has fallen down. I am thinking “that’s kind of interesting, but I need to test this water so you can unload and I can get the next line started, tested and maybe GO TO THE BATHROOM.”
An hour later, just as the first line is shutting down and I can get a break, the final load of spring water arrives and the driver is yelling about the Pentagon on fire and towelheads. I test the water and hear an announcement for all plant employees to go to the breakroom immediately.
After finally going to the bathroom, we notice a television in the breakroom. Not only is there a television, but it tuned to a local news broadcast.
Then the branch manager and plant manager told us what happened. They announced new security measures taking effect immediately and others taking effect later. Some of these were aleady planned but would not have been announced on a normal day. Security was lax because the plant was built in the early 60s before zoning. Except for the school bus yard next door, the rest of the neighborhood was residential. Most of the houses were built in the 80s and 90s. The residents would have freaked if we had the new security measures in place before 9/11.
After work I went straight home and my house was eerily quiet. My house was directly west of Sky Harbor Airport. With no planes overhead, you could hear people whispering in the lot next door. You could also hear loud conversations a block or two away. It stayed that way until Friday evening, which was a good thing because I had paid for a red eye flight due to leave Friday night. I had one of the nicer flights I ever had.
Footyfried 