Where the sidewalk ends
Most people have the ability to be good and evil. I like to think of an angel and a "fallen" angel on each shoulder - one telling me "You are amazing, you have self control, you can DO this!" and the other saying "You are amazing - you want that cookie and are so good - you should HAVE that cookie". Take as much time as you need here - these two are interchangeable ....
Because neither is good OR bad.
People are like this. I don't see where anyone is all good or all bad. I struggle with that. There is evil in the world, that's true. Just turn on any news program, anywhere and you can see it. Why bother? just walk out your front door and evil will cross your path.
But so will goodness. I happen to live very close to the city that never sleeps. It's a busy, both beautiful and filthy. There are homeless, gangs, great wealth, exquisite architecture, music, graffiti that should be in a museum ( some of it anyway), noise and all manner of human beings. Every imaginable walk of life.
I experience goodness every time I go there. Which is far less frequently than in my past. I used to work full time there. During one of the darkest and scariest times in my life.
I worked there during 9-11. In fact, I was in midtown that day. I was walking leisurely through Bryant park behind the main branch of the Library heading for fifth ave and Grand Central Station.
My pager starting going crazy.
I looked at it and a coworker from south was paging me to tell me that something awful happened. A plane had hid one of the twin towers. Was I near there and was I OK?
I stopped walking to process the information on the screen and realized that that's impossible. Aviation has come a long way and if someone hit the tower - it had to be some crazy accident or ??? No. It wasn't intentional. Who would do that?
I cross the rest of the way to fifth ave on a dead run. For those that know me, I only run when chased. When I got to the street, no cars were moving. They were all stopped as we looked to the south. Smoke billowed and we stood there, horrified, as we saw the second plane round the first tower and head right into the second one. It was so small from all the up there, that I felt as if I were watching some horrifying movie.
I was standing in the middle of Fifth ave. My life wasn't in danger because everyone had left their cars and were staring south with the same horrified expression that I was wearing.
I turned on my heel and ran the rest of the way to my office. At that point, the office was over Grand Central station. I made it to my desk in record time. Only seconds later, the VPs and executive staff were hovering over my desk telling me we had to evacuate and Grand Central was closing down.
I was in the middle of rerouting all of my customer's voice and data traffic out of tower 2 to their Asian location. I was doing the very thing that this disaster recovery system was intended for. One VP, waited for me to complete the move and then the two of us ran out of the building.
Once on the street, I realized that no one was coming onto this island.... or leaving it. Certainly not without walking toward the flaming buildings and crossing that bridge.
I walked further into midtown. I stopped for water. My cell phone was no longer getting a signal. A shop owner let me in, gave me water and let me use the phone.
I called a close friend who also worked in midtown. She urged me to walk up to her building. She cleared me with security ahead. So I thanked the shop owner and started north.
When I got there, I was whisked inside and put on a private elevator. When I got to her floor she was waiting for me. Being the CIO, she was in full emergency mode. I was given an office and told to call my family and let them know I was OK. I called my parents and John - who I was in an " off again" phase of the on again / off again relationship we were still establishing and urged him to get off the train and go home.
Then we went to work. We had hotel rooms at the ready if we had to stay over, a couple of the admins were given lists and told to go to whatever stores in order to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear etc. Then I was put in front of two televisions and a radio to determine what was happening and keep everyone apprised.
Lunch was served for a major conference that was obviously cancelled so we had more than ample food. The company took the remnants out and fed people on the street. We settled in for the long haul.
A report came in very late in the day, around 6, that the LIRR was operating. Hooray! Some people could leave! Even if you could just get off the island - so much the better. A crowd of us decided to walk it and see what was happening.
We found a bus. The bus technically wasn't running but was giving free rides within the limited reach that they were allowed to travel on. So we were able to ride almost to the LIRR. Knowing we still had hotel rooms in the event the rumor turned out to be false, we crossed the street and headed over.
Upon arrival, I saw a get over an entrance that I didn't even know could be closed. We walked to the gate and the police opened it and let us through, closing it behind us again. Very curious. We were directed to one of four tracks. They had one train for each major line. and when that train left, another took it's place. It was very calm. Eerily so.
I had never seen things working so orderly and people so willing to follow a process. We walked single file to the train heading the closest to our destination. when we got to the track there were conductors at every door. They were triaging the groups that were arriving and locating seats where we could sit together or very close. Once a car was full, they would close the doors to that car and keep moving.
When the train was full they would make announcements as to the stops and do a final boarding call and take off.
While in our car, Those who had cell signals started throwing cell phones around to one another so that everyone would have a chance to call their loved ones and let them know that they were safe, on a train and where they would be disembarking. I was able to reach my siblings at this point and as luck would have it, most didn't even go into work that day so they weren't even there.
No tickets or money changed hands that day. The LIRR was amazingly organized and should be credited for executing a largely successful evacuation of an extremely large number of very scared and confused people. Shutting the railroad down temporarily was very smart as it enabled them to come back online with flawless execution of a mass evacuation.
When we finally made it home, it was quiet. Our airspace had gone on full blackout and it was eerie to look at the sky and see nothing but stars. It was also the first time I had heard the term "lock down". Our schools were in lock down until parents or guardians could be located to pick the kids up. Thankfully, the kids in our care were able to be collected. My heart broke for those kids whose parents wouldn't be picking them up.
At this point, we were aware that ISIS was claiming responsibility and that my beloved city wasn't the only target. There were others on the east coast. Many people died that day. Many people continue to die from 9-11 related illnesses.
I saw evil that day. I felt that want happened was no accident and it felt evil.
But I saw my people rally. I saw us band together, regardless of race, religion, status, wealth, age and band together to move as many people out of harms way as possible lest another strike be headed our way. We couldn't be sure and it paid to be prudent.
I saw goodness in my fellow man by the sharing of seats, water, food, hotel rooms, trains, phones, rides, anything and everything that could be shared, was.
Goodness can be seen in every day interactions. Whether you know the person or not. The simple act of letting someone into your lane and they wave. Do you wave back? I do.
My friend Rebecca, talks to everyone. I mean, everyone. She will walk around her day and talk to everyone she encounters. "Hi honey - I love your hair" or " wow- great surfboard" or "where did you find that top - it's lovely".Always with a kind, almost maternal, commentary running with everyone she encounters. She sees the good first. Almost always. Sometimes it backfires, but still she persists. There's a lesson in there somewhere. See the good. Even when it's hiding.
And sometimes - it's hiding. Even within ourselves.
Because neither is good OR bad.
People are like this. I don't see where anyone is all good or all bad. I struggle with that. There is evil in the world, that's true. Just turn on any news program, anywhere and you can see it. Why bother? just walk out your front door and evil will cross your path.
But so will goodness. I happen to live very close to the city that never sleeps. It's a busy, both beautiful and filthy. There are homeless, gangs, great wealth, exquisite architecture, music, graffiti that should be in a museum ( some of it anyway), noise and all manner of human beings. Every imaginable walk of life.
I experience goodness every time I go there. Which is far less frequently than in my past. I used to work full time there. During one of the darkest and scariest times in my life.
I worked there during 9-11. In fact, I was in midtown that day. I was walking leisurely through Bryant park behind the main branch of the Library heading for fifth ave and Grand Central Station.
My pager starting going crazy.
I looked at it and a coworker from south was paging me to tell me that something awful happened. A plane had hid one of the twin towers. Was I near there and was I OK?
I stopped walking to process the information on the screen and realized that that's impossible. Aviation has come a long way and if someone hit the tower - it had to be some crazy accident or ??? No. It wasn't intentional. Who would do that?
I cross the rest of the way to fifth ave on a dead run. For those that know me, I only run when chased. When I got to the street, no cars were moving. They were all stopped as we looked to the south. Smoke billowed and we stood there, horrified, as we saw the second plane round the first tower and head right into the second one. It was so small from all the up there, that I felt as if I were watching some horrifying movie.
I was standing in the middle of Fifth ave. My life wasn't in danger because everyone had left their cars and were staring south with the same horrified expression that I was wearing.
I turned on my heel and ran the rest of the way to my office. At that point, the office was over Grand Central station. I made it to my desk in record time. Only seconds later, the VPs and executive staff were hovering over my desk telling me we had to evacuate and Grand Central was closing down.
I was in the middle of rerouting all of my customer's voice and data traffic out of tower 2 to their Asian location. I was doing the very thing that this disaster recovery system was intended for. One VP, waited for me to complete the move and then the two of us ran out of the building.
Once on the street, I realized that no one was coming onto this island.... or leaving it. Certainly not without walking toward the flaming buildings and crossing that bridge.
I walked further into midtown. I stopped for water. My cell phone was no longer getting a signal. A shop owner let me in, gave me water and let me use the phone.
I called a close friend who also worked in midtown. She urged me to walk up to her building. She cleared me with security ahead. So I thanked the shop owner and started north.
When I got there, I was whisked inside and put on a private elevator. When I got to her floor she was waiting for me. Being the CIO, she was in full emergency mode. I was given an office and told to call my family and let them know I was OK. I called my parents and John - who I was in an " off again" phase of the on again / off again relationship we were still establishing and urged him to get off the train and go home.
Then we went to work. We had hotel rooms at the ready if we had to stay over, a couple of the admins were given lists and told to go to whatever stores in order to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear etc. Then I was put in front of two televisions and a radio to determine what was happening and keep everyone apprised.
Lunch was served for a major conference that was obviously cancelled so we had more than ample food. The company took the remnants out and fed people on the street. We settled in for the long haul.
A report came in very late in the day, around 6, that the LIRR was operating. Hooray! Some people could leave! Even if you could just get off the island - so much the better. A crowd of us decided to walk it and see what was happening.
We found a bus. The bus technically wasn't running but was giving free rides within the limited reach that they were allowed to travel on. So we were able to ride almost to the LIRR. Knowing we still had hotel rooms in the event the rumor turned out to be false, we crossed the street and headed over.
Upon arrival, I saw a get over an entrance that I didn't even know could be closed. We walked to the gate and the police opened it and let us through, closing it behind us again. Very curious. We were directed to one of four tracks. They had one train for each major line. and when that train left, another took it's place. It was very calm. Eerily so.
I had never seen things working so orderly and people so willing to follow a process. We walked single file to the train heading the closest to our destination. when we got to the track there were conductors at every door. They were triaging the groups that were arriving and locating seats where we could sit together or very close. Once a car was full, they would close the doors to that car and keep moving.
When the train was full they would make announcements as to the stops and do a final boarding call and take off.
While in our car, Those who had cell signals started throwing cell phones around to one another so that everyone would have a chance to call their loved ones and let them know that they were safe, on a train and where they would be disembarking. I was able to reach my siblings at this point and as luck would have it, most didn't even go into work that day so they weren't even there.
No tickets or money changed hands that day. The LIRR was amazingly organized and should be credited for executing a largely successful evacuation of an extremely large number of very scared and confused people. Shutting the railroad down temporarily was very smart as it enabled them to come back online with flawless execution of a mass evacuation.
When we finally made it home, it was quiet. Our airspace had gone on full blackout and it was eerie to look at the sky and see nothing but stars. It was also the first time I had heard the term "lock down". Our schools were in lock down until parents or guardians could be located to pick the kids up. Thankfully, the kids in our care were able to be collected. My heart broke for those kids whose parents wouldn't be picking them up.
At this point, we were aware that ISIS was claiming responsibility and that my beloved city wasn't the only target. There were others on the east coast. Many people died that day. Many people continue to die from 9-11 related illnesses.
I saw evil that day. I felt that want happened was no accident and it felt evil.
But I saw my people rally. I saw us band together, regardless of race, religion, status, wealth, age and band together to move as many people out of harms way as possible lest another strike be headed our way. We couldn't be sure and it paid to be prudent.
I saw goodness in my fellow man by the sharing of seats, water, food, hotel rooms, trains, phones, rides, anything and everything that could be shared, was.
Goodness can be seen in every day interactions. Whether you know the person or not. The simple act of letting someone into your lane and they wave. Do you wave back? I do.
My friend Rebecca, talks to everyone. I mean, everyone. She will walk around her day and talk to everyone she encounters. "Hi honey - I love your hair" or " wow- great surfboard" or "where did you find that top - it's lovely".Always with a kind, almost maternal, commentary running with everyone she encounters. She sees the good first. Almost always. Sometimes it backfires, but still she persists. There's a lesson in there somewhere. See the good. Even when it's hiding.
And sometimes - it's hiding. Even within ourselves.
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