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I bring up this topic because of another thread going in Sucky Customers where lots of people are discussing their memories of working or being called into work on September 11.
On that day I happened to be off and was going to visit my boyfriend down the mountain in Greenville, SC where we lazed around all day and managed to find a restaurant that was open later that afternoon. It was actually a little surreal to be so unaffected.
It hit a little closer to home later that week when I went back into work at the bookstore. One of our flagship stores was located in the shopping mall in the base of the World Trade Center. That store had murals painted around the walls inside, and within another week or so, corporate had printed up bookmarks with those murals that we sold for a ridiculous price to raise money for relief efforts -- they were of terrible quality, would tear at the slightest touch, and yet we were trying to get $5 for them. I agreed with the cause, but thought that if we were selling something like that we should at least not try to gip generous folks.
Further back in time, one of most important events in my area's history occurred in 1967, when a plane en route from Asheville Regional Airport to Washington, DC collided with a small private plane and crashed on the east side of Hendersonville, killing all 83 passengers and crew aboard. Debris and remains rained down all over the east side of town, and the main bulk of the debris narrowly missed a summer camp, the newly completed Interstate 26, and a hotel that I can see from my workplace today.
My mother worked at the tampon factory (really -- but they also made diapers there too) in Hendersonville at the time, and recalls it was a bitch to get to work that day what with all the roadblocks. I also used to work with a retired sheriff's deputy who was on duty that day, who told me about what it was like to work that scene. Most of what he told me is not repeatable here, but one story that is, was rather amusing. He came across a looter attempting to remove jewelry from a victim and hit him over the head with a shovel, knocking him out. He later learned that the looter, mistaken for another victim, was taken to the morgue and woke up in a body bag, giving all involved quite a scare.
How have major events entwined with your work life?
On that day I happened to be off and was going to visit my boyfriend down the mountain in Greenville, SC where we lazed around all day and managed to find a restaurant that was open later that afternoon. It was actually a little surreal to be so unaffected.
It hit a little closer to home later that week when I went back into work at the bookstore. One of our flagship stores was located in the shopping mall in the base of the World Trade Center. That store had murals painted around the walls inside, and within another week or so, corporate had printed up bookmarks with those murals that we sold for a ridiculous price to raise money for relief efforts -- they were of terrible quality, would tear at the slightest touch, and yet we were trying to get $5 for them. I agreed with the cause, but thought that if we were selling something like that we should at least not try to gip generous folks.
Further back in time, one of most important events in my area's history occurred in 1967, when a plane en route from Asheville Regional Airport to Washington, DC collided with a small private plane and crashed on the east side of Hendersonville, killing all 83 passengers and crew aboard. Debris and remains rained down all over the east side of town, and the main bulk of the debris narrowly missed a summer camp, the newly completed Interstate 26, and a hotel that I can see from my workplace today.
My mother worked at the tampon factory (really -- but they also made diapers there too) in Hendersonville at the time, and recalls it was a bitch to get to work that day what with all the roadblocks. I also used to work with a retired sheriff's deputy who was on duty that day, who told me about what it was like to work that scene. Most of what he told me is not repeatable here, but one story that is, was rather amusing. He came across a looter attempting to remove jewelry from a victim and hit him over the head with a shovel, knocking him out. He later learned that the looter, mistaken for another victim, was taken to the morgue and woke up in a body bag, giving all involved quite a scare.
How have major events entwined with your work life?
walks up to me and says "You idiots need to keep your doors closed, its morons like you that caused the power outage wasting electricity." He walked away as he was finishing his rant so I didnt get a chance to tell him the doors didnt work.
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