BDMayhem

I'll takes jokes over conspiracy theories any day of the week.

People process things through humor. It helps. Laughing is a good thing.

But if you're going to tell a 9/11 joke, make sure it's funny. Most aren't.

Okay, I'll do happy, sad, and weird.

One of the data integrity managers was kind of a jerk. He was the guy who took smoke breaks in the stairwell and yelled--literally yelled--at his employees when they were late. But he was our floor's fire warden, and when the shit hit the fan, he was on his game. He personally saw that another one of his employees, who was very pregnant, made it down every step and out the building safely.

The admin team took charge of all the executives, just like they do on any other day. As they were all on their way out the door, the phone rang, and one amazing woman, Jill Campbell, turned around to answer it and told everyone she would catch up. She had a 10 month old son at home who will never know her.

My immediate coworkers noped their way down the stairs at the first sign of trouble in Tower 1, and one of them left her purse at her desk. Several months later, she got it back, or at least parts of its contents. She showed us the partially melted WTC ID card.

Instructions unclear. Ended up in Carnegie Hall.

Prior to, I was really proud to be working at the WTC. I was a quiet kid from rural Arizona, and my first job out of college was in one of the most famous landmarks in the country. I knew about the 1993 attack, but I, like virtually everyone else, couldn't imagine something of this magnitude ever happening.

During the attacks, I was oblivious. I sincerely thought there was some freak accident that caused the fire(s). It never crossed my mind that it could have been intentional.

After, though, what emotion didn't I have? Fear, hate, rage, confusion, sympathy. For a few weeks after, it wasn't uncommon to find myself crying for no apparent reason, just being overwhelmed by emotions.

The strongest reaction, and this was at least city-wide, was just being nice to people. Everyone held doors for each other, said thank you, refrained from pushing to get on a crowded subway car, moved out of the way on the sidewalk. It was like everyone suddenly realized that all the people around them were real, with feelings and loved ones waiting for them. There was a great sense of goodwill throughout the city.

That's what I wish we could capture, and I wish it didn't take thousands of people dying to make it happen.

I laughed.