My Funny 9/11 Story

Well, it's funny to me if not to anyone else. And it certainly isn't funny for one person in particular. But as everyone shares their "where I was" story, the where that I was and the where that this person was makes for a chuckle.

I was working for a large stationers', but we didn't do any work that day. The first three hours were spent in our conference room watching television. In a room of 45 people that day I was one of two people who had actually heard of Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. Heh. Things change, don't they?

When the shock wore off, the Executive Assistant began calling all our sales staff. None of them were supposed to be on the road, but we wanted to make sure that none had scheduled a quick trip on a then-doomed flight. She ably counted noses, and soon we realised that one was missing. Where was JM? No one knew. It didn't help that his wife called around 11, frantically asking if we'd cancel his meeting so he could come home.

Meeting? What meeting?

Well, the sales meeting you all sent him to in Texas, of course.

Only problem was that the only "Sales Meeting" in Texas involved JM meeting carnally with one of the other sales staff. And his flight home was cancelled. So there dude is, stuck with his mistress in a hotel in Texas and not only does his wife know about it but every single employee in his office is hip to his most unfortunately timed booty call. He's banging one of his employees--diddling while Rome burns.

I can only imagine what that guy thinks whenever people recount "where they were" on 9/11. I was in a conference room. He was in L----- M------, and fixing to get in hot water.

Update As I look at this entry back to back, comparing it to the Timbo McSweeney tribute I wrote earlier, I'm struck at how 9/11 just really laid the dual nature of mankind out there with no comment. There were heroes like McSweeney, cads like my sales guy and (saddest of all) children who were smack in the middle of becoming something.