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I worked at the World Trade Center in building #7. I had friends and acquaintances who worked in Tower #1 right across from me. Some made it out, and some are still unaccounted for. I survived this horrible event.
I'd like to share with you what I went through that awful day, with the hopes that we can all stay strong together, through this tragedy of yet untold proportions. As I found out, regardless of who we are, and where we come from, we only have each other.
I commute into the city every morning on the train from New Jersey. Rather, I used to. I still can't believe what is happening. That morning, I woke up and crawled out of bed. As I was thinking about flaking out on the train and catching the late one, I remember telling myself that I just had to get to work on time. I ended up catching the 7:48 train, which put me in Hoboken at 8:20 am. When I got there, I thought about getting something to eat. However, I decided against it and took the PATH train to the World Trade Center. I arrived at the World Trade at 8:40 in the morning. I walked into the lobby of building 7 at 8:45, that's when the first plane hit.
Had I taken the late train, or gotten a bite to eat, I would have been 5 minutes late and walking over the crosswalk. Had that happened, I would have been caught under a rain of fire and debris, I wouldn't be here talking to you. I'd be dead.
I was in the lobby, and I heard the first explosion; it didn't register. They were doing construction outside and I thought some scaffolding had fallen. I took the elevators up to my office on the 27th floor. When I walked in, the whole place was empty. There were no alarms, no sprinklers, nothing. Our offices are, or rather, were on the South side of Building seven. We were close enough to the North and South Towers, that I could literally throw a stone from my window and hit the North tower with it.
My phone rang and I spoke with my mother and told her that I was leaving. At that moment, I saw an explosion rip out of the second building. I called my friend in Boston, waking her up, and told her to tell everyone I'm okay, and that I was leaving. I looked down one last time and saw the square and fountain that I eat lunch-in, which was covered in smoldering debris.
Apparently, I was one of the last to leave my building. When I was on the way up in the elevators, my co-workers from the office were in the stairwells coming down. When I evacuated, there was no panic. People were calm and helping each other; a pregnant woman was being carried down the stairwell.
I'll spare the more gruesome details of what I saw, those are things that no one should ever have to see, and beyond human decency to describe. Those are things which will haunt me for the rest of my life. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their lives that day, and those who survived with the painful reminders of what once was. Acquaintances of mine, who made it out of the towers, only got out because 1,000 people formed a human chain to find their way out of the smoke. Everyone was a hero that day.
We were evacuated to the North side of Building 7, still only 1 block from the towers. The security people told us to go north and not to look back. 5 city blocks later, I stopped and turned around to watch. With a thousand people staring, we saw in shock as the First Tower collapsed. No one could believe it was happening, it is still all too surreal to imagine. The next thing I remember was that a dark cloud of glass and debris about 50 stories high came tumbling towards us. I turned around and ran as fast as possible. I didn't realize until yesterday that the reason I'm still feeling so sore was that I fell down trying to get away. What happened next is why I came here to give this speech.
I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching; it must have been 600 feet off, and everything was already dark. I normally wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety, similar to the cross. A Hasidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand, and looked at it. He read the Arabic out loud for a second. What he said next, I will never forget. With a deep Brooklyn accent, he said "Brother, if you don't mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us. Grab my hand, let's get the hell out of here". He helped me stand up, and we ran for what seemed like forever, without looking back. He was the last person I would ever have thought who would help me. If it weren't for him, I probably would have been engulfed in shattered glass and debris.
I finally stopped about 20 blocks away, and looked in horror as Tower #2 came crashing down. Fear came over me as I realized that some people were evacuated to the streets below the towers. Like I said before, no one could have thought those buildings could collapse. We turned around and in shock and disbelief and began the trek to midtown. It took me 3 hours to get to my sister's office at 3rd Avenue and 47th Street. Some streets were completely deserted, completely quiet, no cars, no nothing ... just the distant wail of sirens. I managed to call home and say I was okay, and got in touch with co-workers and friends whom I feared were lost.
We managed to get a ride to New Jersey. Looking back as I crossed the George Washington Bridge, I could not see the Towers. It had really happened.
As the world continues to reel from this tragedy, people in the streets are lashing out. Not far from my home, a Pakistani woman was run over on purpose as she was crossing the parking lot to put groceries in her car. Her only fault? That she had her head covered and was wearing the traditional clothing of my homeland. I am afraid for my family's well-being within our community. My older sister is too scared to take the subway into work now. My 8-year old sister's school is under lockdown and armed watch by police.
Violence only begets violence, and by lashing out at each other in fear and hatred, we will become no better than the faceless cowards who committed this atrocity. If it weren't for that man who helped me get up, I would most likely be in the hospital right now, if not dead. Help came from the least expected place, and goes only to show, that we are all in this together ...regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Those are principles that this country was founded on.
Please take a moment to look at the people sitting around you, friends or strangers. In a time of crisis, you would want the nearest person to help you if you needed it. My help came from a man who I would never have thought would normally even speak to me. Ask yourselves now how you can help those people in New York and Washington. You can donate blood, you can send clothing, food, and money. Funds have been setup in the New York area to help the families of fallen firefighters, policemen, and emergency personnel. The one thing that won't help is if we fight amongst ourselves, because it is then that we are doing exactly what they want us to do, and I know that nobody here wants to do that.
My name is Usman Farman, and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degree last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim, and I too have been victimized by this awful tragedy. The next time you feel angry about this, and perhaps want to retaliate in your own way, please remember these words:
"Brother, if you don't mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us. Grab my hand, let's get the hell out of here."
Another Perspective
"This is how hope works: it looks for the good in people and situations, rather than finding the worst; it discovers what can be done instead of throwing up its hands at what can't; it considers problems large and small, as opportunities to move forward when it would be easier to quit; it makes us human, helping us find the very best in ourselves for those around us and the situations we face." – Kevin Eikenberry
An Event From the Past
Ten years ago I was driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It can be a long, bland, boring drive when you take the inland route, with even the smallest towns few and far between.
I was in the middle of nowhere when smoke started coming out of my car. It was a Sunday, too, so even if I found a town, I didn't think anything would be open.
I saw a town called King City which, at the time, consisted of a fast food restaurant, a gas station, and little else.
But the gas station was open, even the service area. I walked in to find the cleanest service area I've ever seen. You could have truly eaten off the floors. The owner was middle-eastern, and he fixed my car, then and there, for $8 (when he could have told me I needed expensive parts and I would have believed him).
He had this sign on the wall. I wrote it down and have never forgotten it:
He who knows not and knows he knows not, is simple -teach him.
He who knows not and knows not he knows not, is a fool - avoid him.
He who knows and knows not he knows is asleep - wake him.
He who knows and knows he knows is wise - follow him.
Dr. Seuss in Uville
Knowing now that the US is vulnerable to the kind of terrorist attacks our great nation experienced last Tuesday frightens me to no end. My daughter will never know the freedom that I have experienced, although I never realized until last week that the "safety" I was feeling was in fact FREEDOM. I received this email today and felt I should share it with you. Being a new mom I have read a lot of Dr. Seuss, but nothing quite as emotional or as poignant as this. Unfortunately, I do not know the author.
I know we will get through these hard times and our children will understand why we should all be proud to be Americans.
May God Bless-
LR
UVILLE
Every U down in Uville liked U.S. a lot,
But the Binch, who lived Far East of Uville, did not.
The Binch hated U.S! the whole U.S. way!
Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say,
It could be his turban was screwed on too tight.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
But, Whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch.
"They're raising their families! They're going to church!
They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving,
I MUST keep the S's and U's from surviving!"
Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses,
They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules,
And then they'd do something he liked least of all,
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand all united, each U and each S,
And they'd sing Uville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!"
All around their Twin Towers of Uville, they'd stand,
and their voices would drown every sound in the land.
"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea--an idea that might work!
The Binch stole some U airplanes in U morning hours,
And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers.
"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"
The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping,
All set to enjoy their U-wailing and weeping,
Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow —
And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing ...
And he couldn't believe it--they started to sing!
He stared down at Uville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any towers at all!
He HADN'T stopped UVille from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers were standing, called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.
So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.
For America means a bit more than tall towers,
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!
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