The Goopster Saves A Life on 9/11
When I first saw that The Goopster is credited with saving a life on 9/11, I honestly thought I was going to read about some exploit of hers where she gave CPR to someone or pulled someone from a burning World Trade Center. In reality though, it is not even The Goopster who is responsible for telling the story, so it is probably true.
I cannot believe it has been almost ten years since 9/11. Time has just flown by. Although I am sure the entire world is going to converge on New York for the anniversary, I think I might even put my 500 pound self on a plane and go, because I feel that it is the best place to be to remember and to never forget.
Oh, where was I? Oh yeah. So, according to a woman interviewed in The Morton Report, she had her very own Sliding Doors moment on 9/11. She was running late for work that morning, and to make her train, decided to jaywalk. As she was doing so an SUV driven by The Goopster almost ran her down.
"I stopped and they screeched to a halt. Then it developed in to one of those classic who-goes-first situations. It got ridiculous. Then I made eye contact with the Mercedes driver. OMG it was Gwyneth Paltrow. I knew she lived down the street, so it made sense. She waved me across, I crossed and she continued on her way. At least if I was late for work I had a story to tell.”
That encounter got her to the train station just as the doors were closing so she had to wait for the next train. That train arrived and when she got to work and was riding up the elevator someone told everyone to go back down because the first plane had just hit the towers. Four people in her office died that day.
When asked if the story is true, The Goopster's publicist said it is 100% true and that The Goopster is moved by the story. So much so that she ate something. There are probably so many stories like this one that happened that day and I would love to hear them all.
"I stopped and they screeched to a halt. Then it developed in to one of those classic who-goes-first situations. It got ridiculous. Then I made eye contact with the Mercedes driver. OMG it was Gwyneth Paltrow. I knew she lived down the street, so it made sense. She waved me across, I crossed and she continued on her way. At least if I was late for work I had a story to tell.”
That encounter got her to the train station just as the doors were closing so she had to wait for the next train. That train arrived and when she got to work and was riding up the elevator someone told everyone to go back down because the first plane had just hit the towers. Four people in her office died that day.
When asked if the story is true, The Goopster's publicist said it is 100% true and that The Goopster is moved by the story. So much so that she ate something. There are probably so many stories like this one that happened that day and I would love to hear them all.
I worked at a place that held conferences at Windows On the World at the top of one of the towers. Our sales contact had been running late for work that morning and missed his train. When he finally got up out of the subway, the building was on fire. Unfortunately, the rest of the crew was up there serving at a conference. Also, one of my speakers for an upcoming event was in the 2nd tower that day somewhere up near the top (I waant to say up in the 70's somewhere???) He recounted his story to us over conference call to a hushed, speechless audience gathered in my office.
ReplyDeleteHe said he actually watched the 2nd plane come right at him and crashed just above his head. They immediately went to the stairwells and managed to get all the way down. He said it was calm, quiet and people were helping one another and being very respectful of one another. No pushing, shoving, screaming, crying...just walking down those stairs floor by floor by floor.
When he finally made it out of the building, he crossed the street and turned back to see the tower collapse.
I know I will never forget!
Please don't take credit for this Gwynnie.
ReplyDeleteI have a good friend who's Aunt worked in the tower. Her daughter (?) called her just as she was arriving at the building, so she decided to stand outside to talk to her and have a smoke. The first plane hit while she was hanging up.
ReplyDeleteI live in New York and I remember my doorman running out of the building because he saw the first low flying plane. It was primary day in the mayor's race...everyone was in the streets...I saw the second plane go by and then the smoke.....I ran upstairs and put on the TV, and saw the first building implode...most cell phones were down...It was hard to find friends and loved ones, smoke and soot were in the air. The second tower fell and the smell I will never forget the smell...or Christie Whitman towing the party line saying the air was safe on the orders of the Bush administration, or the look on George W's face when told the new...the man was useless.
ReplyDeleteAnd the wait to find out if anyone we knew was in the towers.
Finding out we lost a friend....a good friend newly married and about to be a father.
A friend in Brooklyn found Morgan Stanley financial papers in her yard.
To this day the first responders are not being properly compensated for the illness's they contracted.
Forget, never it's etched in my brain...and I pray nothing like this ever happens again.
I live in LA, but I'm from NY and I was there visiting b/c my grandmother was very ill.
ReplyDeleteOne friend of the family who works in one of the towers went to vote in the mayoral primary so he was late to work. The first plane had already hit so he didn't even get in the bldg.
My brother's best friend works in another part of manhattan and was supposed to be teaching a course/seminar in the towers that day. One of his co-workers made some idiotic mistake that he had to clean up so he had to cancel his seminar.
About 3 or 4pm that day, I ran an errand (my parents live about 40 minutes east of NYC) and I was at a red light by the Long Island Rail Road station and a train came in. All the people pouring out of the train were covered in ash and soot. I'll never forget it.
I had a business trip to New York on 6/11/01 and stayed at the Marriot World Trade Center. Not a close call but I remember being nervous about flying the day before because it was the day Timothy McVeigh was being executed.
ReplyDeleteI had a wonderful time in New York in 24 short hours and loved going to the Windows of the World the evening before and watching a thunderstorm roll in.
I worked for a financial company and we watched much of the events unfold on our business TVs and worked a lot of hours on our applications after that happened. I, too, pray that our company never experiences anything like that again.
er, COUNTRY not company.
ReplyDeleteOne day I would love to read a satirical "resume" for Gwynnie that would include things like this. She could also add the time she told that overweight comedian to "get it together" and he lost weight. Insufferable.
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ReplyDeleteI was driving to work when the first tower hit and was at work when the other hit. I worked at a financial planning firm, so we had several tv's to watch the market all day, so we watched the towers fall and all of the coverage. Everything in that office came to a standstill. We all cried for people we did not know all day long. And for days, months and years after. We were all so scared and our leadership seemed to be stunned. So many people were saved because they overslept, they or a child was sick, missed a train, traffic jam, teacher conference, etc. I believe in my heart that God was protecting these people from harm. Not that the people that died deserved to or were not protected or loved by God as well. It was just their time to go unfortunately. The loss of life still makes me tear up and we will never be the same in America. I definitely want to make a trip to New York to see the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial. And I know I will cry all over again.
ReplyDeleteAdd a couple of "was"'s to my first sentenence. Ugh. : (
ReplyDeleteMISCH-I am so sorry to hear you lost a friend on 9/11 and your story inspired me. I wish you had chosen not to mix in politics with your story, but it touched me nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI pray for continued healing for our country, rather than finger pointing, as we reach this terrible milestone of 10 years.
I can't even tell you how many people I either know or have spoken to who overslept that day who worked in the towers.
ReplyDeleteOther stories.
My friend's brother had hooked up with a girl the night before. In the morning he couldn't get rid of her. She just wouldn't leave. Because of her, he was late for work and was furious. Now he's grateful.
My boyfriend at the time was visiting clients in the WTC. He decided to stop and grab a bagel(and he never ever ate breakfast) then proceeded to go to the WTC. He got there as the first tower was hit.
A 3rd story is my friend who didn't even work in the building wasn't so lucky. He was working there on a project, just for the day...and unfortunately never made it out of the towers.
All I can say is the city went into shock that day. For months, everyone was in a daze and that's all people talked or thought about. It was a tough and traumatic time. It's a day no one who lived it will ever forget.
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ReplyDeleteIce Angel...my friend who was killed was at that conference in windows on the world working with Cantor that day.
ReplyDeleteI lived on the Military Base in Ottawa where the Ottawa International Airport is located too. It was the weirdest feeling/sound not to hear the airplanes taking off for 3 days after 9/11. Everything was grounded & very erie. Also, my hubby was to come home from Afganistan on Sept 19, but was delayed for another 33 days till he could come home because of 9/11. My heart goes out to all that lost their lives that day.
ReplyDeleteAw, c'mon. Be nice to Gwyneth for one day.
ReplyDeleteCrila-I am so sorry for your loss. It is hard to believe it has already been 10 years. My kids don't even remember it. My 11 year old was only 1 1/2 and my younger two weren't even born yet-so it was another lifetime ago for them. But for those of us who lived it, it seems like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I was at work that day in downtown Chicago, my office windows overlooking Navy Pier. I thought for sure we were next and hightailed it out of there! I got home in only 40 minutes-it took everyone else, who waited 20 more minutes before the city was evacuated, 5 hours.
That said, the next day driving back to work, people let me merge, didn't crowd, said please and thank you and actually smiled and waved at one another.
I'm so sorry for everyone who lost friends and family that day. My father works for the Pentagon, and where the plane hit was where his office was located. A friend woke me up calling to see if my dad was okay (I was going to university in Indiana at the time), and I had no clue what was going on. It took me over 5 hours to get through to my mother to find out that at the last minute, he had a schedule change, and the meeting he was supposed to have that morning in the Pentagon was moved to Walter Reed. When he finally managed to call me, it was the best moment ever to hear his voice. I'll never forget that day.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add, I was in his office the month before 9/11 visiting him. It was so scary to think that I had been right where the plane hit. The renovations were going on at that time, but my dad still has access to his office.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for anyone who lost someone on 9/11 -- whether in NYC, D.C., or in PA.
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to live on Broadway in the Wall St. area, and he worked in the WTC. My stepmother, pregnant at the time, decided that she didn't want to raise a child in Manhattan, and they moved back to D.C. during the summer of '01. At the time, I thought it was an insane decision, but I'm obviously glad that things happened the way they did.
I also have an aunt who works for the Pentagon, and she had a doctor's appointment that very morning. Crazy stuff. My own parents now reside just miles from the Pentagon, and I'm reminded of 9/11 each time I pass it, naturally.
Just the other day, I heard some callous person say how we should "just get over it," and I think that kind of shows how desensitized some people are.
Oh, and the Gwyneth anecdote is CRAZY. I think she's pretentious, sure, but she's NEVER talked about this incident in print -- ever -- and I would imagine how she's had a few opportunities to do so. It's classy how she didn't try to glory-grab or whatever.
I visited Dec. 2001 and there was still a strange smell. As soon as I got back home I got the worst case of bronchitis/pneumonia. My traveling companion was very sick too. We both couldn't stop coughing.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine what the rescue workers had to smeall and breathe.
Anyone watching Rescue Me? Tommy's visions of that day are haunting. Last night's epissode made me cry.
These stories make me SO sad. :(
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks ago I read this story about a Ground Zero worker, (that has throat cancer) and finally got his compensation check. For $0. He'd been awarded $10k, but the lawyers got all of it. Awful.
If this or something like it happens again and I pray that it doesn't. I wonder after reading how badly the first responders have been treated , how many will run too help again ?
ReplyDeleteMen & women came from all over the country the world really doing anything they could to help...from feeding the workers to going through the rubble for survivors.
Our leaders should be ashamed.
A different story about WTC....I went to NYC the first time in August 1995. My friend & I stayed near the Empire State Building, and our plans and all our money for 8 evenings had been spent on theatre tickets. So I spent a lot of daytime hours just walking around in NYC for 8 days.
ReplyDeleteI never had ANY desire to see the WTC, because on television they looked ugly to me. But one afternoon, I decided to walk to Chinatown....and from there, the towers seemed so close, I walked all the way down there.
I bought a ticket to the top, enjoyed the views, history, yadda yadda. Then I realized you could go out onto the OPEN ROOF....SO AMAZING!!! Awe-inspiring, and it made me kind of light-headed. It was a crystal-clear Summer day, and I specifically remember I could see a jet approaching JFK....and I was above it.
It was late afternoon as I headed back to the hotel through WTC plaza...and I stopped and stood for a moment to behold it. The HUGEST thing I had ever seen, and then ANOTHER--right next door. It was kind of emotional, to think of all the labor, time, energy to build something so beautiful.
Despite onlookers, before I left, I had to 'say goodbye' by pressing my palm against the side of the South tower. The energy from something so huge is amazing. And the stone was still warm from the sun.
I'm just really thankful that I changed my mind that day and actually saw & appreciated them, and finally understood how amazing and beautiful they were.
I know I'm talking about buildings when so many lives were lost. But being from Indiana, it's the one thing I had actually met that died. It still hurts to see WTC in movies...I know everyone can relate to that.
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Since I was in Indiana on 9/11, I will just share that I worked a block from the Capital that day. Our city paper published an 'Extra' edition around noon, and had hired local homeless men to sell them. As I approached the dude to purchase 2 copies, our eyes met. He was Black, 60-something, rough. I was 29, blonde, full make-up....but when our eyes met, we both were full of tears, and he looked into my heart and said, "Isn't it awful?" And I choked out a 'Yeah.'
I will never forget the entire nation, the world, going through those months of mutual shock afterward. It just took so long to process.
Great story, Libby. I'm glad I saw the towers and still have the video from my first trip to NYC. Being up there was something I'll never forget. When I went in Dec. 01, we purposely decided not to go to the site. It was too much. We talked to people who had been and I just couldn't do it. But, I did visit the site in '03 and it still tore me up. Always will.
ReplyDelete@Libby -- "As I approached the dude to purchase 2 copies, our eyes met. He was Black, 60-something, rough. I was 29, blonde, full make-up....but when our eyes met, we both were full of tears, and he looked into my heart and said, "Isn't it awful?" And I choked out a 'Yeah.'"
ReplyDeleteWell, I just choked up, too. Thanks for sharing that beautiful story.
I was under it when the plane hit-they told us there was a gun battle at Cortland and that's why they bypassed the stop. I remember hearing the loud bang and thinking it sounded like thunder but it was a cloudless, beautiful day. When I got to midtown the entire place was in chaos and I had to run, in heels, to my office-they were all panicked for when I got there because I was running late and everyone was relieved that I was there.
ReplyDeleteBut the worst part for me was calling my father and having him watch it on TV. He was a fireman, and all he kept muttering was that they had staged the area too close. And I listened to him as the towers fell and he lost countless friends and sons of friends and men he'd help get on the job and into the houses they were in. They recalled all the retirees (he was a year retired) and he put on all his gear and went down to the ferry-but they never had to go.
The city was eerily silent that day. I had to walk from Rockefeller Center back down to Battery Park City-there was one store that was open and I had to buy new sneakers because I couldn't walk the entire way in heels.
I lost so many friends that day; the NY Times memorial lists just have so many close friends and family and not so close friends adn family. I remember the fear that day and the ensuing days but then I remember that there are people that have to feel that way, every single day. We're blessed in America and the best way to remember that day is to heal and become united-not just over tragedy. That day was neighbor helping neighbor and we seem to forget that-particularly in politics lately. It's sad because that event shouldn't be a moment we can't move on from-it should be one we learn from, honor those who lost their lives, help those who gave up so much down there (health, mental health, family members) and grow as a country and a community.
i worked in 2 WTC. I wasn't in that office that day. I was in midtown. I had to announce to the rest of my team what was going on while half the department was downtown. I still have my now husband's clothes in a ziplock bag full of the debris that hit him. He worked on wall street, but being a boy, he ran toward the mess where as all my girlfriends working in trade center ran away from the bldgs.
ReplyDeleteand men think they're smarter? pfft.
its 10 years. its still like its yesterday. its the silence that still haunts me. Manhattan in dead silence. you can not ever really know what that means. not a horn honking. not a dump truck clanging. no car speeding around. nothing. silence.
i remember standing on 21st and 6th? 8th? an odd place, one that you wouldnt think of the towers yet, straight down the street, a clear view...a clear view of smoke. a clear view of something that just didn't make sense.
and i remember the military, with machine guns, "keeping order" on the west side while people were trying to escape by boat. Only thing was, everyone was calm. no one was screaming or trying to jump the line. We were calm. we got on various boats and make it to safety in jersey.
my husband remembers only the noise of the first building falling. the rumbling. more than a train. Like a supersonic jet passing overhead.
he remembers not being able to breathe. he remembers cries for help trying to outrun the building. falling into the street and rolling under a panel van to stop the debris from hitting him over and over. Just a few minutes, but seemingly endless. having to breathe through his shirt acting as a filter and blindly feeling his way back to 60 wall street in the dust blackout.
its been 10 years, and it feels like yesterday.
My sister and b-i-l both worked at the Pentagon at that time. On the morning of 9/11/01, my sister was at the dentist and my b-i-l was in London on business. My sister's office was in the area that the plane hit. She and b-i-l lost many friends, co-workers and neighbors that day.
ReplyDeleteIt was a horrible day and the days that followed were as bad for. I was unable to look at the WTC buildings in photos without bawling. Now when I see the buildings in old movies I catch my breath, it's like looking at a unicorn or something, they are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt was a horrible day and the days that followed were as bad for. I was unable to look at the WTC buildings in photos without bawling. Now when I see the buildings in old movies I catch my breath, it's like looking at a unicorn or something, they are so beautiful.
ReplyDelete