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I found myself relating this story to a co-worker a moment ago, and was
surprised to realize that I'd never told it here. It was the first conversation
I had on September 11, 2001, since it was the incoming call itself that brought
me to consciousness that day.
The phone rang. Me, I never let the phone just ring. I figure that if a friend
is going to call me at some insane hour, they have a damn good reason and I'm
going to pick it up. It's probably past 9 a.m. my time, which means that more
than two hours have passed since events in New York City had begun to unfold. I
glanced at the caller ID and answered.
"Hey, Sarah."
"Uh, Hi."
This is an unusual beginning for the two of us. For starters, Sarah never
called at this point in time. There was also a missing tone of depression that
I had come to expect. She sounded far more anxious than anything else. No
surprise, but we now have hindsight on the context of the conversation. I
didn't even have my eyes open yet. Well, I found the phone, but you know what I
mean - I wasn't _awake_ awake.
"What's up," I asked.
"I'm in North Dakota."
Okay, Sarah lived in Idaho, so this was a bit odd. Also odd to be calling me
before I'm conscious to announce this fact....
"Why are you in North Dakota?"
"Because of the World Trade Center." Full Stop.
Now, I don't know about you, but at that point in time, it was a little hard to
imagine how a financial district on the opposite coast could teleport someone
across the breadth of two states. I attributed this shortsightedness to lack of
sleep (I'd been at work until about 3 or 4 a.m.) and charged ahead.
"What about the World Trade Center?"
"It's not there!"
A more obvious statement I had never heard, and I said so.
"Of course it's not there! It's in New York!" I felt I was being very patient.
I didn't have a kid at the time, but I felt like I was having one of those
toddler conversations.
Eventually, the tables turned and it was Sarah's turn to explain to me, in that
patient, explaining-to-a-child way that you have to talk to the sleep-deprived,
what was going on. She'd been flying to New York that day and had been diverted
to the closest airport to where she'd been cruising at the time. We discussed
arrangements for her travel back home and hung up.
After this, I got out of bed, showered, and drove to work, where I was shocked
to find out that the weird dream I'd thought I had had in fact occurred. I
called Sarah back to make sure I hadn't missed anything.
-rbarry
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