Have y'all read Leonard Pitts' column?

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Answers

Oh. And I am so glad that Laura Bush was on all the networks this morning to say (essentially) "Y'all. Get your little kids away from the television. For Heaven's sake."

When I was driving up from Tallahassee on Tuesday afternoon, I stopped in Vienna, Georgia (pronounced "Vie-eena") for a coke. The cashier had her five-yaer-old parked in front of the TV. Another customer said, "Gawddayum. Y'all know that if Bush finds these bastards, they're fuuuuuuuuuuuuucked. Dayum, I remember signing that piece of paper at the post office when I turned 18, and I'll go over there and fuck them A-rabs myself."

And while I'm all for patriotism and retaliation, and I give my full support to our government, I don't necessarily know if those sentiments are what a five-year-old should hear while watching airliners slam in to skyscrapers.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

H, was it you yesterday asking about whether Tom Clancy had been interviewed?

He was on NBC the other night, saying that he would have never written something like what happened, because it would be too unbelievable...that nobody would ever believe that that many people would kill themselves for such a cause. He also said that, as horrible as it is to admit, it was a beautifully executed plan. Crazy.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

A couple weeks ago I talked to a professor who presented a theory that sad workers are more productive workers. He reasoned that they worked harder because they needed to distract themselves.

I think I'm going to prove him right today. I've got my headphones on and I'm proofing a section that was mostly written before the attack. I'm on a blood-donation list and a volunteer list with the Red Cross at 66th and Amsterdam, finally. I made a donation via Paypal. I just don't know what more I can do at this point . . . a friend of mine went to Chelsea Piers yesterday but they told him they didn't need any more volunteers.

Johnny Cash just sang in my ears: No the circle won't be broken, by and by, Lord, by and by.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

There was a story on the news last night that showed two teenagers driving around a Mosque waiving a US flag. It also showed a sign that had been placed on a Muslim high school that said "Kill all Arab terrorists."

In our desire to seek retribution let us not let anger over take our better judgement. This was one of the primary causes that led to these atrocities.

Remember the thousands of recent immigrants that died on the battlefields of the Civil War to show their support of their new homeland.

Remember the thousands of Japanese who were wrongly interred in camps during WWII simply because they were "different".

Remember the millions of innocent Jews who died during the Holocaust simply because they were Jewish.

Remember the abuse suffered by many Vietnamese immigrants in the 1970s.

Nation of origin does not signify support of these acts, nor does religious affliation.

Let us hope and pray that a nation's desire to seek justice does not encourage individuals to commit even more senseless acts of violence.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

More prayers needed.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

A co-worker is reporting that LaGuardia has been evacuated and arrests made there, and one building at Times Square as well. (I am two blocks east and 15 blocks north of Times Square.) At this point it could be pranksters; it could be easier. They evacuated the Empire State Building last night because a dog reacted strangely; they're probably evacuating on the slightest sign now.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Five firefighters found alive in a buried SUV.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/13/america.attack/

Praises!

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

I don't know if people want me to keep posting evacuation rumors, but I have a co-worker's husband evacuated from near Grand Central and another co-worker's friend evacuated near Rockefeller Center. Again, I think these are just police being extra-super-cautious.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

A coworker just called from New York and said something about Staten Island?? Writergirl?

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Yeah, we've known about the SI thing for a while: police were investigating a car there, and so they sealed all links to the island. I'm not sure on what grounds they're investigating that car, but they apparently chased it from Manhattan into SI.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

CNBC just went down a list of companies that had offices in the WTC and how many employees they had accounted for. Out of 3,500 employees, Morgan Stanley is still missing only 40. Which is some of the best news I've heard in a while.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

That's fantastic. Weren't Guliani's estimates like 4,900 people missing?

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Well, three offices between them -- Cantor Fitzgerald and two others - - have 1,200 to 1,400 missing, plus somewhere between 250 and 400 firemen, policemen, and EMS workers, so I could easily see 4,700. But 4,700 would be, while still horrific, better than 10,000.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

According to Salon, the report that the five fire fighters were found in the SUV was false.

"And in a bizarre and heartbreaking development in New York, news that five firefighters had been found alive in an SUV that had been buried in rubble since Tuesday turned out to be untrue. The news had lifted spirits among rescuers and around the nation for much of Thursday. Authorities say two firefighters had become trapped in rubble earlier Thursday, and when they were pulled out a few hours later, bystanders had gotten the story confused."

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Chris, I could not agree more.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Oh, I wish the sirens would stop. I wish, I wish, I wish. A reporter said Tuesday night that the sirens were a good sign since that meant there were wounded people to transport, but that was 48 hours ago. Who are we kidding now?

I keep feeling God did this. That's why I'm not angry. The idea that people could have done this, alone . . . we like to think of ourselves as God's chosen people; but I just find myself wondering . . .

All right. I'll shut up.

I don't want to go back to my apartment because I'll lose cell service and my roommate is, understandably, a little possessive of the phone.

I feel so isolated. The office is deserted.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Somebody post. Or email. Or something. Please. Please. I know I don't have any right to this but please.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

Sorry, y'all. It's just . . . the sirens . . . it's hitting me now.

I guess.

The Smoker is recommending I get drunk with my roommate. I'm not sure I could even imagine my roommate drunk.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

WG --

I'm here -- if you need/want it, my YM is just_a_game_in_my_mind_sharona, and it's working for a change.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

WG, I'm here. Don't know if you still are.

Just watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds on TV, trying to get a break from the news. Let me tell you, that movie didn't seem so scary to me tonight.

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2001

T, my mother emailed me an article saying Atlanta was a suspected target. You be safe out in Smyrna. (Allison and MOC too, of course).

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001