Ann McDermott's Blog: Welcome to Manhattan!

9/11, Sun Microsystems, Two World Trade Center

I dare say that being an employee of Sun Microsystems on September 11, 2001 will be the defining event of my life. Everyone in NYC was severely affected by the events of that day, but for those of us who called the WTC our "home" the shock was something that will always be with us.

There were meetings on the calendar that day and when my phone rang at 9:11 at home, I thought it was one of the Sales Reps I worked with calling me about a pending deal with one of our financial accounts. No, it was my friend Annie calling and leaving me a voice mail to say "I heard what happened at the WTC and just wanted to see if you were OK?" And I thought to myself, World Trade Center? What happened, Oh, probably another explosion in the basement like in 1993. I had worked in lower mid-town back then and had a directly line of sight to the helicopters trying to rescue people from the roof. But then I turned my TV on to New York One and it was like I was watching some bizarre horror film...WHAT...a plane into the building where I was headed. WOW...what do I do know? Gee, I guess that meeting won't happen? I should call everyone I know and let them know I'm OK (especially my family in Scotland).

So I sat there on the edge of my bed just really not knowing WHAT to do...and then our building collapsed...and I went into a panic and I emailed Scott McNealy and here's how that went:

> Scott,
>
> I was late for work today and watched the Sun Office
> explode on TV. How can I find out about my friends
> and do I still have a job?
>
> Ann McDermott
> SunPS, NYC

We are trying to account for everyone. We will be trying to
get information posted to SunWeb.

Hang in there. We will need you help getting through this.
Scott

After the attacks, one of the ways I came to terms with what had happened to me was to try and document through photographs the changes in my world.

The weeks that followed the terrorist attack and destruction of our business home were VERY disorienting. Even though Sun is very "work from home" friendly. I had lost my laptop, my enigma card (security to sign into our network), all my customer documentation, my collection of O'Reilly Books as well as a few pairs of shoes. I would go to Starbucks thinking "Should I work here?" Work what work, my customers were as devestated as we were and everything below 14th Street was closed. It wasn't until about two weeks later that Sun set up a temporary office in what was our Education Center at 33 Whitehall Street and there we all sat. From the highest ranking to the lowest in rows of desks and workstations and phones, like students and family in one of life's most horrifying lessons.

What was even more significant was that this location, 33 Whitehall Street, literally stands on the ground upon which New York was founded. It's in this area that archeologists have dug up 18th Century Taverns, where some of the first churches and synagogues in the US were founded and to walk down from Battery Park. Wearing a surgical mask and seeing smoke rising over what you knew were your belongings sort of made one nautious. But yet...we were determined to just do what needed to be done to recover and continue doing the job we all loved to do.

Thanks to my colleague, Ellen Shapiro for sharing photo's she had taken of our offices on 25 of 2 WTC for those of you who'd like to see them.

Looking to New Jersey
The View to Tower 1 from 25

Posted at 01:00PM Sep 11, 2006 by anniem in Sun  |  Comments[0]