The Service Industry: Your Best Stories Here

[Medusa]

Oh yeah, 911 was BAD.

I was working 2 overlapping jobs at that point. One was as a Project Manager in the Engineering department of a major telephone company and the other was my part-time at the airport for a major airline.

I got slammed on both ends.

During the day, I would get a plethora of complaints both internal and external about the lack of phone service in and around NYC and at night it would be irate people demanding to fly to NYC even though all planes were grounded.

I remember one dude at the airport threatening to "whip my ass" if I did'nt get him to Islip, NY THAT EVENING. I was so tired and overwhelmed with the news that one of our relief pilots had been killed in the United Airlines flight that I just looked at the guy and took off my name badge and threw my hands in the air and said, "Well come the fuck on then. You wanna whip my ass? Just come ON! Just come right over this counter and start whipping because I just need an excuse at this point to bust you upside your damn head."

There was a line of people behind him who heard me go off on him and several people who stepped up and told that guy to get out of my face and to get his shit together. One lady even took a bottle of water out of her bag and gave it to me.

There were only 2 of us at the airport on the evening of 9/11. 450 passengers to accomodate in hotels or rebook on other forms of transportation. 450 people to provide with phone cards, toiletry kits, meals, etc. We ran out of everything.

It was 4am before we got everything handled and the next wave of people started coming in for the 6am flight to Charlotte, NC.
I had to be at my engineering job at 8am.

Nightmarish, needless to say, but I wouldn't have done it any different. There were so many people there who were terrified and upset. People who couldn't get ahold of their families in NY. People trying to figure out if their meetings had been affected. People just in shock.

It was just crazy.