A Trip to a Laundromat
By: Argus Sventon with additional commentary by Brittany Pierce
It should be pointed out that some of my comments that I made were made under very unusual circumstances. Nevertheless, they are part of the story.
We Didn't Know
Brittany and I arrived at the office at our usual time. We went through our normal routine on the Internet. First of, I started at the Toonzone forum. We checked our e-mail accounts. Then we looked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution site, as well as Neal Boortz's page. It was a fairly routine morning, except that after reading the AJC, we had found a site www.nomoreaolcds.com lamenting the fact that America Online had sent unwanted CDs to people.
The site told us how to send the unwanted CDs back to AOL, only this time, we could make them unusuable. Brittany and I had scratched at least three CDS to make them unusable. Also, we took an AOL floppy disk, and erased it, so we could download more airliners for Microsoft Flight Simulator 98.
We concluded with the AVSIM MSFS forum.. There was no television on, because my supervisor had decided that we shouldn't have the television on, when we weren't watching it.
We soon went to eat breakfast, with the televisions still off. The supervisor had given us an assignment to help her gather some furniture coverings, and take them to be washed.
Brittany and I gathered sacks loaded with the coverings and began loading them into the van. The reason we had to get them washed, was for a board of directors meeting, followed by a trip to our company's Athens office.
For Brittany and I, we were excited. Brittany wanted to get another chance to walk through Hartsfield International Airport. She and I planned to greet one of the board of directors at the Birmingham International Airport on the 27th.
In the meantime, Brittany was more worried about whether or not I would lose a vitamin bottle cap, which we keep the quarters for the laundromat in. She told me, "Concentrate, Argus, get the job done." We pulled into the laundromat parking lot in the van. My supervisor had taken "Grubby", her pet cardinal with us, but that had grown to be routine.
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER'S ON FIRE!
I had gotten out of the van with two sacks of laundry and intended to take it to some huge washers in the back part of the laundromat. I walked in, and noticed the television was on. I saw the World Trade Center with smoke coming out of it. It looked bad. I could hear Katie Couric saying something.
I made a U turn, still holding the two sacks and proceeded back toward the van. My supervisor thought perhaps the laundromat was not open. I shouted, "The World Trade Center's on fire!!"
Brittany and I were sent back in there, and we heard someone mention a plane had crashed into it. Brittany and I knew something was up. Brittany said, "Argus, how could someone be dumb enough to crash a plane into the World Trade Center?"
Brittany was now the only real flight simmer in the office, since the VATSIM reorganization had not permitted me to continue my virtual airline career. Neither of us couldn't believe what had happened. There were two planes that hit the World Trade Center.
Soon there was Robert Hager mentioning two hijacked planes, and American Airlines was reporting a flight missing. Something definitely was not right here. There were several African-Americans in the laundromat as well. We stood there, ready to offer our expertise.
By this time, I wished we had carried sectional charts with us to the laundromat. I wanted to get the laundry done and return to the office to be able to change channels, and get on the forums. This was getting catastrophic.
Then a black man said, "Not the Pentagon too!"
We were in shock. A plane had hit the Pentagon. Now, it was getting even more catastrophic. I walked back toward the back of the laundromat, and informed my supervisor. I shuttled back and forth, sharing my knowledge of airline flying with the laundromat owner.
The Towers Fall
While I was busy doing something else, I heard Katie Couric mention something about a piece of the World Trade Center falling. It was much worse. The south tower had completely collapsed.
I was angry. I told the black man that American should be sued by the Port Authority for every cent they got. Then my anger turned to shock again. The FAA had by now, grounded every airplane in the country. It seemed to be prudent. Then we heard about the crash in Pennsylvania.
What I didn't know it was a United flight that had brought the south tower down. It was also a United flight that brought Liz back to Atlanta from Los Angeles. It was also a United flight that had gone down in Pennsylvania.
My supervisor knew that what was going on was big, but she was too busy to watch. She knew that I was in shock, and would try to get us back soon. She had asked me to go back in the van to check on Grubby. Brittany and I went out there, and we sat down.
"Brit, if this is a dream, wake me up now!", I said.
We walked back in. It seemed to be inevitable that the second tower would come down. The second tower came tumbling down. I was too much in shock to continue. Brittany said, "Come with me."
We went outside and looked at the busy highway. Brittany said, "Look at the highway. See anything unusual? Everything appears normal. Look at the power lines. They look different? Look at the people. Anything wrong?"
That seemed to calm me down. We headed back in and watched more coverage. Eventually, we got the laundry loaded back up, and proceeded back to the office, where I got back on the Internet. By now, everyone was carrying the coverage, including Turner South.
A Month Later
It has been a month since that fateful trip to the laundromat. Brittany remained grounded for the duration of the FAA order, and has pretty much resumed flying her Delta Virtual flights.
We've changed a few things though. With the new FAA security restrictions in effect, we won't be able to get through the metal detectors anymore without a ticket. We can't get the timetables, which Brittany needs in order to fly. As of October 15, she was using the Delta timetable from June.
Even if we could make it through the metal detector, and be able to do what we once were able to do, what would happen? Going from looking at the US Airways Express ERJ at Concourse B to Concourse C to look at Delta, may raise some alarm bells.
And even the events that caused us to be at the laundromat at that fateful moment in U.S. history are in jeopardy. Our board of directors meeting may be put back a few months. Brittany and I were disappointed. We were a week from cleaning the windshield of Liz's car at sunrise.
Yesterday, Brittany flew a Delta Virtual flight to New York. We had downloaded the WTC exclude file from Justin Tyme, and installed it. So the WTC is no more in the virtual world that Brittany and I fly in. Certain songs that I once played for her, while she executes the MACEY2 arrival into Atlanta, make Brittany a bit upset.
One morning, Brittany and I arrived at the office, and she said, "Argus, I wish next week, you and I cam make the commute from Fred's resort to the office, and do a walk around inspection of Liz's car, like a pilot would of an airplane. "
I said, "Brit, I wish."
It never happened. But we still will try to get the board meeting rescheduled. Co-workers have told us that we should get some pressure on our supervisors, and push to get back to Georgia. I think that should happen soon.
My Plan For Rebuilding the WTC
My proposal is for the two twin towers to be rebuilt, exactly as specified in the original building plans. They had a purpose, and it is my belief that New York City would not be the same without them.
People may be wondering would that be appropriate? I think it would. To rebuild something other than the twin towers would be in a way, giving into the terrorists. There should be a memorial built on the site of 7 WTC.
It should be made of recycled materials, from the WTC, as well as from old aircraft parts. The airlines should donate funds to build the memorial as well. The memorial would also serve as a visitors center and museum. The names of the victims would be inscribed on the walls of the memorial.
All of this could be dedicated as part of a special celebration, not only honoring the events of September 11, but celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Liberty Weekend". Anyone who grew up in the 80s, remembers this celebration, held in July 1986, honoring the Statue of Liberty's 100th birthday.
Again, these are my opinions. Whether my proposal occurs remains to be seen.
Airport Security Making Flight Simming Less Than Enjoyable Read this article on how recent changes to airport security have affected Brittany's flight simming.
http://www.buildanewwtc.org
Make the Twin Towers Rise Again
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