Remembering The 9-11 Incident

What was your memory of the 9-11 (September 11) incident?

Imagine this:

You were in front of the office's coffee-brewing machine waiting for your first round of hot energizing coffee. You were hearing subtle noises of people chattering with each other, soft sounds of people typing on their keyboards, and the pleasant humming of the airconditioner units. You were startled by a high-pitch sound of the machine - time to get your coffee now.

As you walk along the isle, you were greeted by your fellow workmates, some handshakes and some hello's. You were about to sit down when you saw your workplace crush, then exchanging sweet smiles with each others.

While organizing your tasks, you were tapped at the back by your boss, followed by a "You did a good job yesterday!" remark.

Oh, how peaceful and beautiful life is!

But, what if, after those pleasant things above, you heard a loud booming sound, window glasses shattered into pieces, there were flames everywhere, and all of the lights went out?

This was what had happened to Brian Clark, worked at the Euro Brokers, on the 84th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

The Associated Press narrates:

Brian Clark was working at Euro Brokers, on the 84th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. He arrived at about 7:15 a.m., had his cup of coffee, went about the morning's chores. 

A "loud double boom" is the first thing he remembers. Then flickering of the lights in his office. Something caught his peripheral vision. He spun around. His view usually looked out over the Hudson River. The river and the sky.

"It was filled with flame," he says. "Two yards from my nose is the window, and it's right against the glass, almost swirling. I can't recall whether there was a flash of heat. But the bright glass — you were in the fire. The flames washed right up."

Suddenly, those pleasant and peaceful scenes were all replaced by scenes of chaos.

But amidst the chaos, as a volunteered fire marshal, he calmly guided his workmates, with a flashlight and a whistle, to the stairs down to evacuate the building. (The complete story can be found at the Yahoo News.)

Eventually, he and Stanley Praimnath (a friend he just met while escaping) managed to get out of the building safely.

Indeed, it was by God's grace that Clark managed to get out from the 84th floor before the whole building completely collapsed.

The 9-11 incident was really a shocking incident. Even here at the Philippines, we were so saddened by the news of more than 2,000 people dead because of the incident.

But, one thing I admire about Clark's attitude was that he did not just think of himself during the incident. He managed to help his fellow workmates, even by using just a flashlight and a whistle.

How about you, are you in a chaos right now?

May your first response be a quick lending of your hand to help a fellow in need.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can.  ~Sydney Smith

© 2011 Erickson Ibana