A Report from an OD who resides in New York City
Member Charles Klein has been keeping a journal since Day 1. He has graciously allowed us to share his thoughts.
He wrote...
What's going on here is unreal. It's 5:00 in the afternoon, and people are
walking around midtown Manhattan in an attempt to have life go on. The
bizarre sight is the smoke billowing up into the sky from downtown. My home
windows face south, toward lower Manhattan, and I'm watching thick, black
smoke filling the sky in front of me. I never got to my office today, since
the bridges out of Manhattan were all closed, so I went into my wife's high
school to volunteer to help in some way. You just felt like you had to do
something to help someone. We had a ton of parents, guardians and friends
coming to get kids, so they sure did need volunteers. I dealt with some
sobbing adults picking up kids whose parents were missing or unheard from.
No names of the missing or dead have been released, but we're all holding
our
breath at the numbers anticipated. A mass morgue has been set up no too far
from my home. I know of at least one list member whose office is downtown,
and I fear there may be others. My wife and I are heading over to the Red
Cross to give blood.
Thanks to the listees who have posted about this tragic, horrible event.
Your prayers are appreciated. Oh my God, the tv network I have on just
reported that 7 World Trade Center has just gone down. I see an even larger
smoke cloud rising up into the sky. Oh God, Oh God. I've got to go now.
Charles Klein, OD
New York
Reporting Day 2
When I got up this morning, as I'm sure most of you did, my first thoughts
were of a bad dream having happened....that one brief moment at awakening
when the fine line between reality and imagination is first forming. Then,
it
hit me again as I looked out the window and still saw a pall of smoke
hanging
over lower Manhattan. Like all of you, I turned on the tv and saw that
fires
were still burning in the WTC area.
The bridges were open outbound out of New York, but I thought that if I
drove
out to my office (in Forest Hills, Queens) I might not be able to drive back
in. Fortunately, my part of the subway system was working on a reduced
schedule, so I left early, took the subway, and here I am. Walking to the
train takes me about 25 minutes, and the look of the city was.....
well....... strangely quiet. Not too many people were out, sort of like on
a
holiday when all the locals are out of town. I live right near Lincoln
Center, which was totally blocked off with barriers and guards. I guess
it's
considered a potential target on some worst-case scenario blueprint. Some
people were walking as usual, some tourists with maps, folks with cell
phones
oblivious to everything around them. The construction project at the old
Coliseum site at Columbus Circle was strangely quiet. Broadway right below
Central Park had almost no car traffic. The subway was eerie. Lots of
people, but no sound, and strangest of all, no laughter. I mean, the crowds
on the subway are never quiet. Every noise was met with stares from
others...like an intrusion into their privacy. Now, on the New York
subways,
eye contact is usually avoided, but today, if you caught someone's eye, the
look that was returned was more of a sigh....a look of resignation.....a
look
of I know how you feel....and there was this spirit of, well, togetherness.
It wasn't like when JFK or RFK or MLK were assassinated. Those events caused
outright grief, people crying in public without embarrassement or
hesitation.
The dead here are nameless and faceless and uncounted. Mayor Giuliani and
others on tv have not speculated on the numbers of dead, rather they have
concentrated on the survivors that have been pulled from the rubble. Those
New Yorkers who have lost friends and loved ones are not out in public right
now. We don't know their private horror. The rest of us are just holding
our breaths awaiting the death count, as if that will be our signal that
it's
okay to cry, to acknowledge the true horror that has been laid on our table.
I'll tell you one more thing about the people of this city - there's this
feeling of strength. My phone has been ringing this morning - patients are
calling, asking if I'm okay, rescheduling appointments, and you know that
life will go on.....not life as usual......but we will heal our wounds,
comfort our citizens, and we will survive. New York will still be here, and
we'll go on being this wonderful, powerful symbol of American spirit and
resolve.
Charles Klein, OD
New York
Reporting Day 3
Today started off not too badly. Up in my neighborhood, the horrible
burning
smell in the air last night seemed to have abated, and, as I walked past
Lincoln Center, they had taken down the barricades. There were more people
out today, the subways were busier, and I caught glimpses of that old New
York Attitude again....as in, hurry up, you're in my way, gotta jaywalk,
can't lose those 5 extra seconds, you know, the New York Minute
routine.....and I feel, hey, my city's coming back a little.
And then, it started. The bomb scares. It's like every creep in the world
decided that, with our heightened awareness of security, it'd be a great day
to call in a prank, since nobody can take them for granted today of all
days.
So, in one day, we had evacuations of the Metlife building, Lincoln Center
(so much for the lack of barricades), Grand Central Station, Penn Station
and
LaGuardia Airport. Oh and yesterday they had a scare at the Empire State
Building too. Now, most of what I'm telling you is stuff I heard glimpses of
on radio and through patients. If you're following these events in the
media,
you may know more than I do, and I apologize for any erroneous heresay. But
the mood today is Pissed Off. We'd all like to take these phone pranksters
and hang 'em from the rafters. On the other hand, every threat now has to
be
taken SERIOUSLY. Since the inconcievable has already taken place, all
horrors
are now possible, and that's the scariest part - how can we ever let down
our
guard? Even when we kill Bin Laden and maybe Saddam in the process, will we
ever feel like there isn't another maniacal, fanatical zealot right around
the corner?
As for the WTC area, you probably know more than I do. I heard that there
are more buildings in danger, weakened from the shocks and the heat and the
vibrations. I heard they pulled 6 firemen out from the wreckage still
alive.
That's fantastic, really, and it helps up forget for a moment about the
1000s they didn't pull out. But with every rescue, there's some hope
sustained for more.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I'll be glad to get on the subway and
get on home to my wife and sit with her and listen to the terrible day she
had. Oh yes, they also had a bomb scare in her high school. These people,
whoever they are, call in a bomb scare in a high school? Oh, it's a famous
school, Performing Arts (remember Fame), so that gives them the high profile
they need? For shame. Gimme one of their necks, and I'll wring it like a
chicken's. It's like when the vultures come after the already dead, except
we're not dead, and these morons aren't as patient as the vultures are. What
a day!
Charles Klein, OD
New York
Reporting Day 4
The sky is crying. And the tears only make it worse. As you may know from
tv, it has been raining all night long. The ash at ground zero, which was
described originally as powdery, has now, from all reports turned into
slick,
slippery mud. Rescue workers are scrambling over mounds of debris now as
slippery as glass. Great, huh?
I drove to work today. I steeled myself for the view of lower Manhattan
that
I always get from the Triboro bridge, but it was so cloudy and rainy that it
was totally obscured by fog. So I still haven't had that one sight that I
know will drive even more home the reality of the horror.
My block is like a war mobilization zone, in that the American Red Cross is
on my corner. There are so many workers out there, filling trucks and vans
with cases of water and food and supplies, that you wonder where all these
people came from, how they cut time out of their lives to do this volunteer
work, and you feel incredibly proud to just witness it.
I had a guy walk into the office yesterday with bilateral inflammations,
tearing and in obvious discomfort. I said to him "what happened to you", and
he responded World Trade Center. Seems he was in the vicinity when the hits
occured, and he was showered with rubble and soot. He was taken to triage
center where his eyes were irrigated and his bruises and cuts treated, and
he
was told to find professional help after he got home. They did as good a
job
on him as could possibly have been done on the scene, but he clearly needed
follow-up. He had surface abrasions OU and some particles still embedded
under his upper lids. So I irrigated and cleaned his lids, gave his some
tobradex and celluvisc hs, and told him to come back in a few days. When he
offered to pay me, all I could say was "Hey....I'm glad I had a chance to do
something for someone so directly involved". And it felt good to me. So I
guess I understand a little more about those volunteers at the Red Cross on
my block. We all do what we can. The whole city's been like that. It's
great.
I'd like to say thanks to all of the listees who have sent me personal
replies in response to these reports I've been writing. I appreciate all of
your support and comments.
Charles Klein, OD
New York
Report Day 5
Hi Paul, here's my last installment, if you want to post it on seniordoc.
Thanks for putting up the other 4. Charles
>
> I saw it today. The view. The skyline of lower Manhattan without the
> towers. Driving to work today over the 59th Street Bridge, looking over
my
> right shoulder on a perfectly clear day. The area is still smouldering,
and
>
> there's smoke smoke rising from the site, but it's not as dense as it was.
> The rain has washed some of it from the air. I could clearly see what I
> could
> no longer see, what was no longer there.
> I remember New York before the WTC. I'm a native. We watched these
things
> go up, slowly, progressively up and up, wondering when they would stop.
Took
>
> a long time. And then one day they did stop They put the antenna up, and
> the buildings were done. Period. We had been given a long time to get
used
>
> to their existence, so seeing them wasn't such a great shock. We locals
> missed the shock part. I used to love when people came to visit me in New
> York for the first time. I'd pick them up at the airport and drive them
> into
> the city and I'd wait for the first great glimpse of the skyline so I
could
> see the look of amazement on their faces. And it was always about the WTC
> first. Seeing those two buildings for the first time, seeing them
standing
> over the harbor, reflecting light and space, that was a shock I always
> wanted
> but had always been denied. So I shared the wonder vicariously with my
> guests. They went "wow, those building are incredible", and I'd go "yeah,
I
> know what you mean". And I'd smile.
> So today I had my shock. I can no longer tell myself this is some bad
movie
>
> with great special effects. I can no longer hope that they'll blow away
all
>
> of the dense smoke of this past week and find the buildings still standing
> there. Nope. Not happening. They're gone. I've seen it. I've had my
> shock.
> People are talking about it today. Everyone you see, all my patients and
> neighbors near the office. Everyone asks everyone else...Are you
> ok?...Hopefully no family or close friends?...Have you seen it yet?
> And everyone has these incredible coincidence stories. My
> friend/cousin/neighbor would've been there if not for.....I heard stories
> about a guy whose young son wanted to help him shave, and he got a knick
he
> had to fix, thus making him 15 minutes late to get to his office on the
90th
>
> floor; about a lady who for some reason forgot to buy her morning bagel in
> he
> lobby, so she got off the elevator at the 45th floor, and went back down
and
>
> was in the lobby at the hit instead of at her desk up at 95; about a guy
who
>
> hadn't been late in years, but for some reason got a phone call at home
that
>
> morning from an old girlfriend he really missed, so he said what they
hell,
> I'm going to talk for a while, I can be late once in my life. I heard a
ton
> of these stories. Everyone has one. It's great. Next week won't be so
> great. Then comes the stories we won't hear. The coincidences that
didn't
> happen. The cars in the parking lots of the Long Island Railroad and PATH
> trains that will still be there. The alarm clocks set to auto that will
be
> going off every morning with no-one to turn them off. They've now said
they
> have a list of 5,000 missing. We all think they're way low. We'd like
them
>
> to be right, but 5,000 seems a low estimate.
> Sometime today the media coverage of the operation has switched from the
> word
> rescue to the word recover. I noticed it. I guess everyone else did,
too.
>
> The looks of the Red Cross volunteers mustering on my block were different
> today. More tired and a lot less hopeful. But they were still there.
> So folks, today at the end of my schedule, I'm going to take a few days
off
> and get away. My office is closed on Mondays, and Tuesday and Wednesday
are
>
> Rosh Hashanah, so I'm going to get in the car and drive up to my
> weekend/vacation getaway house in CT, and just sit and feel lucky. Lucky
I'
> m
> alive, lucky my wife and family and friends are alive. Lucky I have a
place
>
> to live and a place to run away to and a place to work. Things once taken
> for granted now no longer appreciated so lightly.
> Last year at this time, Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of a new year, last
> year, as always, I wished all of you Peace. This year I wish you all
> Victory. Thanks for listening.
> Charles Klein, OD
> New York
>
>
A wonderful first hand report from an almost on site observer. Charles E- mailed me to say he is taking a few days off but will be happy to answer any queries from our members upon his return.
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