I think that we’re usually happy to be Not Dead, but today I’m more aware of it than most days. Yesterday was quite exciting. Too exciting. In fact, enough to make me want to give up on excitement for quite some time.
Yesterday morning started with spectacular flashes of light (though not green) and booming thunder. On the way to the subway for work I waded through water swirling around my ankles on the street. Other people faced an even worse commute than I did. (Photos below curtesy of co-worker’s father.)
Fortunately, the storm had let up by the time I was leaving work. I’d shut my computer down, and stopped by my co-worker’s desk on my way out to hear about what a bad week she’d been having when the business director popped out of his office, agitated and wanting to know what was going on. When he mentioned it, I became aware of the commotion down the hall, that I’d been tuning out. (The entertainment dept. are down there. They make a lot of noise. Routinely.)
One of the assistants came down the hall, saying that she’d looked out the window by her desk and the building next to us was collapsing. Other people came down the hall, confused, with murmers about explosions and building collapses. The business director darted here and there shouting to stay calm, not to panick, not to run.
One of my co-workers told the person she was on chat with “I have to go.” Him: “Why?” Her: “I think the building next to us exploded.” Another shut down her computer and gathered her stuff. My boss’ office door was closed — she was on a conference call. I knocked on her door and said, “Excuse me. I hate to interupt, but we need to leave the building. I believe that the building next to us is collapsing.”
The elevators were locked down, so we all headed down the stairs from the 16th floor. I was glad that I hadn’t moved to my new office on the 38th floor yet. We could feel a deep rumbling that sounded like any number of buildings were coming down. One of my co-workers reminded us to hold the hand rails, in case the building power went out. That was around the 10th floor when I realized, “Hey, this could be something really serious. This could be something really horrible.”
Once downstairs an associate found us who was having a panic attack, reliving her experience from 9/11. She said it looked and felt just like it. No one could get through on cell phones. We walked west, away from the MetLife building, away from the smoke, steam, debris. We had to brush dirty stuff off our clothes (Which contained asbestos, I later found out. Great.).
When we got to Times Square we parted ways. One co-worker and I going to visit Auntie at her office, then going on to get dinner. We eventually found out that it was caused by a steam pipe. Last count I read, over 40 people were injured. The whole experience was a sobering reminding that we’re all a little afraid, working here in a landmark building. I even joke about it — “I’m going to die first if there’s another attack.” I don’t think that I will any more. That was a little too close.
Anyway, that’s why today I’m glad to be Not Dead.
