theducks | "The day that changed the world."

© Alex Dawson, 27 May 1999

September 11th, 2001 was one Tuesday we will all remember for many years to come. The terror of that day is something we all shared. With the internet and television connecting people like never before, we were all "there". Alex in Australia saw and experianced at least as much as everyone other than those actually in New York that day.

I have been to New York twice, in May 1999, and again in May 2002. I have stood in the now vanished lobbies of WTC1 and WTC2. I have walked thru the now collapsed subway station, past the now crushed US customs offices, withdrawn money from an ATM in the severely damaged World Financial Center. I have eaten lunch in the once blasted out, but now repaired World Financial Center Winter Garden Atrium. I have two second cousins who were standing in an office in lower Manhattan looking out the window as two planes hit the World Trade Center towers. The footage of the low flying first plane flying over firemen making a documentary was filmed by a primary school friend of my mother. I have good friends who live near the Pentagon. I have attended meetings in military buildings across the road the Pentagon.

I was hanging out on IRC, as I usually do on a tuesday night, not really doing much. I saw someone in #perth-16-20 on oz.org say that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Given my years of IRC, I trust no-one, but thought.. well it's possible, maybe something like a Cessna. I can still remember imagining what it would look like.. small plane, small hole. Maybe a few deaths. So I look online for news. Hmm CNN.com seems rather slow. *hits reload a few times* Ahh here we go, downloading now.. *eyes pop out of head* This is not good. I turn on CNN (same CNN that the rest of the world was watching). Talking heads.. information brief.. plane possibly hijacked.. all aircraft in area being contacted.. 8 planes failing to report in...

It was surreal. The movie "Signs" has a similar scene, when the alien invasion is confirmed. But that wasn't real. This was. It's a spine tingling thing to see what were once the tallest buildings on earth come crashing down, with no idea of why it was happening, then the Pentagon is hit, and the one in Pennsylvannia.

After the initial shock, at about 9:15AM EST, the world starts going in damage control. Bridges in and out of Manhattan closed to traffic, schools closed, the US border closes, NYSE and NASDAQ close down indefinately. All aircraft traffic in north america is grounded. A no fly zone is declared over NYC.. The president makes a two line statement at a school in Florida and then disappears into Air Force One, destined for places unknown...

Not everyone was in the position I was. Many people on the internet were hungry for knowledges, and cnn.com and msnbc.com were croaking under the load. As traditionally happens, people flock to IRC and try to find out what is happening. And that's where I come in. I briefly came out of my retirement and resumed my role as an active IRC operator. Undernet's guidelines for use of IRC Operator "powers" allows for their use to help channels in times of need. 1400 people in an IRC channel counts as "time of need". Our experiance allows us to effectively manage such a large channel. People are there for information, not for chatting. I arranged a number of people to monitor news and report on developments in channels like #NYC, while I "took over" management of them.

That was a weird weird night. I was at my computer watching TV until about 2:30AM (2:30PM EST). I usually go to bed at about 11PM (11AM EST). Why was I awake? Fear. I didn't want to go to bed incase something else happened. Hey, if this can happen.. why not more. Worst case, I'd rather not miss World War 3.

I won't write about what I thought about the aftermath of September 11. I don't think it's fitting to associate the response with the cause. Some good things have been done, but then so have some bad things. People are scared and want security, and rightly so. Whatever your views on US foreign policy, or the "evil" of freedom, the innocent people of NYC did not deserve this.

So this is my way of remembering the lives lost on September 11th 2001. Rest in peace.