SAD ANNIVERSARY

I PRAY FOR EVERYONE..

...affected by the tragic events that happened eight years ago today. I will never forget being in that store. Time moved so slow. A saleswoman said that a plane crashed in New York. You would think that it was sad, but it could happen. I KNEW something else was going on. I explained that I worked for United and asked to use the phone to call over to the airport to get more info. By now, the entire store was waiting on my next move.

I called one desk; no answer.
"The line is busy." I lied.
I called the next desk over; no answer.
"That line is busy too." Another lie.

I pretended to call desk after desk with no luck, each time trying to reassure the worried faces around me.

"The lines are all busy because the employees are probably trying to rebook passengers."

By my fifth or so phone call, I knew they were starting to question my lies. I couldn't tell them that the reason the phones had gone unanswered was because they were evacuating the airport.

"You shouldn't worry." Another lie.

I somehow managed to keep it together until I left the store and got into my car where I promptly fell apart. I don't know how long I cried; what was being said on the radio; or how I got home. I called the manpower office at work. I was told that if I did not show up for my shift later that afternoon, I would be written up.

Thank you, United, for your compassion.

I chose to stay home and be with my family, uncertain of what was going to happen to our world in the coming hours, days, years. It hasn't been good.

I PRAY FOR THE FUTURE...