September 11 pala ngayon. What do I remember about that day? Nothing much really. Nothing dramatic, at least.
It was an ordinary day. I went to work early to present slides at a morning conference. And then it was off to teaching path laboratory at 8:00 AM. Naalala ko, just after class started, one student exclaimed that a plane hit the world trade center. Instantly, I had this image of a small bi-plane stuck to the side of the tower and I muttered, "Idiot pilot.". We went on with class. When we heard loud sirens of emergency vehicles on the FDR, I knew something was really wrong. We stopped class and checked the internet. Someone jokingly mentioned terrorists. He was right.
Everything was here and there after that. Naalala ko yung mga kasama namin sa trabaho, medyo naiiyak, gusto nang umuwi, ayaw nang magtrabaho. Pero yung mga tiga-timog-europa, walang reaksyon - sanay sa giyera. Kaming mga pinoy, sanay sa trahedya, tuloy sa buhay.
Ems and I walked home that night - fifty freaking blocks! And I was wearing a pair of shoes with heels that day. By the time we got home, the toes on my right foot were bleeding. I kid you not. Ems and I laughed at the thought of me walking into the ER with bleeding toes on the night of the greatest tragedy in NY. The doctors would ask me what happened - was I running out of the WTC, perhaps? And I would say, no, I was just walking home, nothing dramatic. Ems said they would probably leave me there to bleed to death.
The next few days are a blur now. A few snapshots remain - long lines for blood donation, military men and military vehicles on empty First avenue, a lady sobbing quietly on the M16 bus, Mayor Giuliani on TV reassuring the people, a deserted Times Square, Bette Midler singing "Wind beneath my wings" at the Yankee stadium, candles and flags on building windows, and oddly, a potato underneath the Bellevue wall of faces.
So ayan, wish I had more, but that's all I remember - my bleeding toes and Bette Midler.
3 comments:
I remember so many people had some brush with death on Sept 11.
"I would have been killed if i woke up early and took the train to work" or "I was supposed to be on that flight but postponed my trip" or "My husband was late for work that day..."
Ang nasabi ko lang noon sa mga comments na yon ay "feeling". I would now type (F) for "feeling" for purposes of brevity at dahil tinatamad na ako. That morning, I was also teaching Lab when a wayward medical student went online and saw that Tower 2 had already collapsed. Class was of course disrupted as was the whole hospital. We were asked by our director(F) to stay until late because there might be survivors and we might be needed at the ER. Eh mas (F) naman ako noon dahil pathologist ako (and when was the last time I revived a person???). I was actually happy because it meant no more specimen from the OR because the schedule was cleared for possible emergency operations on survivors. There were no emergency ORs. But later that day, there was this idiot surgeon who operated on breast cases and so I resumed my dissecting duties. Ang surgeon na yon ay (B) bwisit at (O) opportunista.
I left work at around 8:30 pm not because there was more work, but because I had hoped that the bus on 3rd Avenue would be already running (I didn't want to join the exodus of people going uptown on 1st). After all, I lived sixty-six blocks away. On 3rd Avenue, the bus stopped at a non-bus stop to let me in (maybe because I was in scrubs). The bus driver(F) had this concerned and "I am doing an important job" expression. I was grateful that the commute was free. However, I also thought: how many times did an MTA bus driver leave me at a bus stop when I know he saw me running after him in his side mirror?
I tell you that day was strange.
When I got home, at around 9 pm, that was the first time I saw footage of the destruction. Quite disturbing.
The next day, I decided to wear scrubs again(F) to see if I still had a free ride. I was wrong.
I(F), however, had appreciative looks from commuters.
My favorite (F) story was of 2 jetem nurses I overheard while inside the Bellevue elevator:
NAR#1: I was so nervous last night when I was on call last night at the unit.
NAR#2: Uh-huh.
NAR#1: I mean, did you see what the terrorists did to the towers? It could happen to Bellevue too, y'know?
NAR#2: Uh-huh.
MEGA(F) and (H) helloooooooo...
Lessons learned:
1) NYC and NYers can get disoriented after a disaster like 911 for a day, but will be back to normal the next.
2) (F) ang mga NAR ng Bellevue.
Ang di ko makalimutan: yung siraulo sa First Avenue na nakasuot ng fireman jacket. (F) din sya, kahit baliw.
(TGIF)Taong Grasa In Fireman outfit
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