The Snag - Post #25

We had set everything in motion. My 'bro was ready to fly from San Fran. His rental hog was all lined up. "NB" had the Bimmer tuned up and ready to fly. I had completed the deal, ownership papers in hand, the Ontario plates secured, packed the luggage, and I was told my baby awaits my arrival at the showroom in Vancouver. Anticipation was reaching a boil.

Then, two days from my departure date for Vancouver, the most unbelievable event unfolds on my computer screen. I was sitting at my desk at work at 8:45 a.m., contemplating the day ahead, wondering what excitement it would bring. The typical daily life of a salesman living the moment on the edge. I just adored that roller coaster ride when the news comes that the deal you've been working on for two years craters and . . . no money from that one! Or, even better, the phone rings and you hear the deal is done and you get to feed the family for the next month. Awesome!

Well, news comes in many forms and on that day a colleague of mine sticks his beak in my office door and says:

"Did you hear what just happened in New York"?
"Ahh . . . there's a lot going on in N.Y. most the time. More specific, please".
"Turn on your computer and get to CNN"

I do.

And I watch over and over again, in utter disbelief as a fully loaded passenger jet flies into the World Trade Center.

Followed by a second.

I must admit, watching the first plane's approach --- and ultimate demise --- I immediately thought in the early moments that it had to be pilot error, or that something was terribly wrong mechanically with the plane to cause this catastrophe. It was simply unfathomably to me that this event could possibly have been willful.

And then then second plane arrives on the scene. And the magnitude of the horror is over whelming. Like they said. That moment changed and redefined the future of the United States forever. Unthinkable how anyone could harbor such hatred of someone else's philosophy or their way of life. I would never be able to grasp the motivation behind such an act. The rest of my morning was spent watching the events unfold on my computer. Eventually I pulled myself away, came home early, got the kids to bed and sat with Angel in front of the TV.

How do you explain that to young kids?

Eventually the two of us had to face this new reality and, on a more mundane level, how it would affect my trip west. At the least, it would likely need to be delayed because all planes in North America were grounded for the immediate future. My plane was scheduled to leave Toronto on Sept. 13 at 6:30 a.m. I contacted my travel agent and she said to stand by but, at the moment it wasn't looking too good to go. Angel suggests that I consider an all-out cancel. Put the bike on a train and ship it. Ouch!!! What an absolutely, unbelievably terrible idea.
But possibly the sensible course of action.
I began looking into the cost of canceling my hotel accommodation in the hope, at that point, it was simply a postponement and not a cancellation.