Anyone game for sharing their 9/11 stories again? If not, scroll; here’s mine:

I was on my way in to work, listening to the radio, waiting for the replay of David Letterman’s Top Ten List. The breaking news “swoosh” sounded and I heard that “a small plane” had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. Now, just the other week, somebody in a parasail had fouled his rig on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. So, I thought that this was some brainwipe in a Cessna whose stunt had gone awry. Only when I got in did I hear that both had been hit. I tried to connect to various news websites, but the national ones were all jammed. So I hit upon the idea of connecting to some West Coast newspapers’ websites before their patrons woke up, because I knew they would be receiving wire photos and reports. I finally got through to the website of the Sacramento Bee. I later sent their webmaster a thank-you for his hard work. I was so stunned that it wasn’t until after lunch that it occurred to me to turn on the radio. I was so stunned, that when news of United Airlines Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania was announced, it barely registered, just one more horror atop all the rest.

I got home and ate dinner in front of the TV. It was a cacophany of video loops, guest experts, officials, and reporters doing stand-ups at or near various newsworthy locations. I went down to the Publix to give them a check for the Red Cross. A young Arab man was at the service counter, looking nervously at me. “It’s a terrible day for our country,” he said. I just nodded.

The next morning I awoke from a particularly sweet dream, and when my brain booted all the way up, the memory of the previous day brought a cascade of awfulness down on me that was almost physical in its impact. The rest of the week I was so jacked up that the very air seemed to crackle. I bought newsmagazines for keepsakes, which I will give to my children years from now.

I suspected that Osama bin Laden was behind it, having heard news reports about him in connection with the embassy bombings earlier. I still hope that his head ends up in a satchel on the President’s desk, delivered by our special forces.