Boat Ride to Ground Zero
Last Friday, I went with the rest of my law department on a boat ride around Manhattan. This is an annual event that I have come to hate more and more each year. (It is well known that I hate the boat ride but my boss thinks it is great for morale so attendance is mandatory. One year, I was on a conference call and missed the boat; he actually sent the boat back to the dock to pick me up).
The reason I hate the boat ride is that all that happens is that your colleagues drink alcoholic beverages for two hours while the boat circles Manhattan. Number one, I have no interest in hanging out with my colleagues. Despite the fact that I am known as a social misfit, I have been able to retain my position at the firm which is not unimportant. Everyone at the firm knows that I don't do business dinners and avoid most business lunches as well. I basically do my thing and go home. Second, I have a policy of never drinking with business associates. I have seen too many people say unbelievably stupid things under the influence and I have resolved that this will never happen to me. Third, when colleagues drink, the men and women start saying inappropriate things to one another and invariably start touching each other in inappropriate ways (Since, halachically, any touching is verboten, this can become a major problem).
So, my method for getting through this annual two hour ordeal is to pick a spot in a corner, drink a couple of Cokes, and be friendly to whoever makes it over my way.
The second part of this annual event occurs when we come ashore. Everyone (except me, that is) goes to a place called Southwest, located in the World Financial Center. There, having built a strong alcoholic base, they spend the next five hours drinking tequila and margaritas.
Which brings me to the real point of this post.
After alighting at the World Financial Center, I ditched Southwest and walked to the train station by way of Ground Zero.
This was only my third trip to Ground Zero since 9/11. For four years I had worked at the World Financial Center which was across the street from the World Trade Center. I used to take the subway from Penn Station or Atlantic Avenue to the WTC station and walked through the WTC every single day. (On the morning of 9/11 itself I was in still in Woodmere when the planes struck (for reasons that are still hard to believe). Maybe one day I will discuss this).
The first time I came back to Ground Zero was in October, 2001. Our building had suffered serious damage and we had moved uptown. All my stuff was still in the building, including important files that I needed for work and personal effects that I wanted to retrieve. Finally, on a Sunday morning, I was allowed to go to the building and pack two boxes that would be delivered to my new office (one of which they promptly lost!).
I will never forget that experience. Even though it was already a month after 9/11 the scenes of destruction were indescribable. Walking from Broadway to my office (escorted by police) was very eerie. Walking into my office was even stranger. The office looked as if it had been hit by a neutron bomb. There were no signs of life but everything was exactly the way it had been on the morning of 9/11. I saw newspapers from 9/11 lying on desks. Radios were still playing. Files and books were spread out as if nothing had happened.
Then, looking out the window of my old office, I really felt the magnitude of what had happened. We had been on a high floor so I had a clear view of much of what was left of the WTC. That memory of what I saw will never escape me.
Now, almost three years later, the scene is completely different. Ground Zero has become a major tourist attraction. There had to have been hundreds of tourists in the area. Vendors were selling all kinds of paraphenalia. Ground Zero itself was also very strange. Where there had once been two huge towers and later piles of debris there was now a huge hole in the ground. Within that hole, all kinds of construction had been completed.
I have been thinking about this visit all week. The experience shook me up a lot. I haven't really crystallized my thoughts. I'm glad I went. I'm just not sure why.
Last Friday, I went with the rest of my law department on a boat ride around Manhattan. This is an annual event that I have come to hate more and more each year. (It is well known that I hate the boat ride but my boss thinks it is great for morale so attendance is mandatory. One year, I was on a conference call and missed the boat; he actually sent the boat back to the dock to pick me up).
The reason I hate the boat ride is that all that happens is that your colleagues drink alcoholic beverages for two hours while the boat circles Manhattan. Number one, I have no interest in hanging out with my colleagues. Despite the fact that I am known as a social misfit, I have been able to retain my position at the firm which is not unimportant. Everyone at the firm knows that I don't do business dinners and avoid most business lunches as well. I basically do my thing and go home. Second, I have a policy of never drinking with business associates. I have seen too many people say unbelievably stupid things under the influence and I have resolved that this will never happen to me. Third, when colleagues drink, the men and women start saying inappropriate things to one another and invariably start touching each other in inappropriate ways (Since, halachically, any touching is verboten, this can become a major problem).
So, my method for getting through this annual two hour ordeal is to pick a spot in a corner, drink a couple of Cokes, and be friendly to whoever makes it over my way.
The second part of this annual event occurs when we come ashore. Everyone (except me, that is) goes to a place called Southwest, located in the World Financial Center. There, having built a strong alcoholic base, they spend the next five hours drinking tequila and margaritas.
Which brings me to the real point of this post.
After alighting at the World Financial Center, I ditched Southwest and walked to the train station by way of Ground Zero.
This was only my third trip to Ground Zero since 9/11. For four years I had worked at the World Financial Center which was across the street from the World Trade Center. I used to take the subway from Penn Station or Atlantic Avenue to the WTC station and walked through the WTC every single day. (On the morning of 9/11 itself I was in still in Woodmere when the planes struck (for reasons that are still hard to believe). Maybe one day I will discuss this).
The first time I came back to Ground Zero was in October, 2001. Our building had suffered serious damage and we had moved uptown. All my stuff was still in the building, including important files that I needed for work and personal effects that I wanted to retrieve. Finally, on a Sunday morning, I was allowed to go to the building and pack two boxes that would be delivered to my new office (one of which they promptly lost!).
I will never forget that experience. Even though it was already a month after 9/11 the scenes of destruction were indescribable. Walking from Broadway to my office (escorted by police) was very eerie. Walking into my office was even stranger. The office looked as if it had been hit by a neutron bomb. There were no signs of life but everything was exactly the way it had been on the morning of 9/11. I saw newspapers from 9/11 lying on desks. Radios were still playing. Files and books were spread out as if nothing had happened.
Then, looking out the window of my old office, I really felt the magnitude of what had happened. We had been on a high floor so I had a clear view of much of what was left of the WTC. That memory of what I saw will never escape me.
Now, almost three years later, the scene is completely different. Ground Zero has become a major tourist attraction. There had to have been hundreds of tourists in the area. Vendors were selling all kinds of paraphenalia. Ground Zero itself was also very strange. Where there had once been two huge towers and later piles of debris there was now a huge hole in the ground. Within that hole, all kinds of construction had been completed.
I have been thinking about this visit all week. The experience shook me up a lot. I haven't really crystallized my thoughts. I'm glad I went. I'm just not sure why.
posted by MoChassid @ 2:35 PM
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