My friend, Brad and I, were just leaving our workout at the gym. We’d spent an hour doing our regular routines of stretching, walking on the upper-level track, and working out on weights. In order to leave the gym, we had to go through the treadmill area. People standing around and those on treadmills had stopped their workout and seemed to be tranfixed in some movie that was on the multiple television screens at the front of the large room. We stopped for a moment to see what was so interesting. A crowd began to gather.
The screens were showing a very tall building with billowing smoke rising from 3/4 of the way up one side. Brad leaned over to one of the by-standers and asked what was going on that was so interesting. That’s when we learned that the Twin-Towers had been attacked and were on fire. We looked at each other in shock and left immediately.
I called my son and daughter-in-law to get the TV turned on and that I was coming over. We spent that day watching the devastation unfold on the screen. We all felt hollow inside and frightened.
I owned a management and human resources consulting business in Seattle. My son and daughter-in-law were my employees. Our business was quite successful with plenty of work to afford my two employees and myself a good living wage with occasional bonuses. However, the next day at work after Septermer 11, 2001, the phone began to ring. We had 75% of our business with higher education, which had significant amounts of state funding. These clients were calling to cancel work that we had started and cancel contracts that had yet to be started. It was chilling.
Over the next few months things got even worse. Bankruptcy of my business loomed in the foreseeable future. I began shopping my business around to other firms, firms much larger than mine that were able to withstand the economic impact of the 911 attacks. My daughter-in-law went to work for another firm. My son stayed with me to be my main support person. We ended up merging with a medium-large accounting firm in Seattle that had their US headquarters in Chicago. It proved to be an unsuitable fit for both entities. Other events happened, and I eventually had to close my business. I moved to Montana, where I lived with my brother for a year and a half before I was able to purchase a home of my own.
That was the personal impact of 911. The country-wide impact was in the economy, travel and purchases that required large amounts of money such as a home. We all know how travel changed with TSA screenings. Many businesses could not withstand the economic downturn. Everyone experiences the now embedded fear of future attacks.
When I went to buy a home using inherited money, I was treated like I was getting the money from unsavory places. I was required to provide extensive documentation of where the money for the down payment came from. That had never happened before. Fear not only existed in each and every person. It traveled all the way to the top of organizational functions and ways of doing business.
We continue to experience the hassles of airline travel. That is not going to change ever again. Fear and distrust are now part of our lives.
So, today being the anniversary of that terrible day when so many innocent lives were lost and our world changed but not for the better, I will pause to reflect on what life used to be and be grateful for what I have now.
Deb’s Blog 