Where Were You When You Heard?

This will be a rare off-topic post but in the wake of the great news of Osama Bin Laden's death, I thought it might be interesting to learn where you were when you heard about 9/11.

There's a tremendous sense of closure, it seems, at least with that part of it - that chapter.

As for me, I was living in Chicago's Roscoe Village neighborhood. My office was - and still is - located in Chicago's Loop, across from the Sears (now Willis) Tower. I was single at the time and had decided to go in late that day and was just getting out of the shower when my Mom called to tell me to turn on the TV. She asked me to stay home as at that time TV was reporting that one of the planes was possibly headed to Chicago and obviously the Sears Tower was feared to be a target.

I don't think I was quite grasping the reality of it all and went ahead and hopped on the El to get to work. People were strangely silent on the train that day, everyone looking at each other - stunned I guess.

When I got off the train at the Quincy stop near the Sears Tower, I found crowds of people standing and walking - many looking skyward. It was surreal and creepy. Before I got to my building, I saw co-workers nearby saying the office had closed. I went ahead and went up to get something and found everyone was gone - except one person - my boss of course.

He said I didn't need to be there so I took the cue and got out. Frankly, it was still pretty weird being down there and a presumed target - with so many conflicting reports and confusion at the time.

So that's my story. I still remember trying to use my cell phone while down there and getting nowhere. People around me all said the same thing. That added to the weird vibe.

Feel free to share your tale, or e-mail me if you prefer. The "Where Were You..." stories help further unite us sometimes...and can be interesting. Hopefully I won't feel too old and thus be forced to give up baseball cards - if you were all in grade school or something!