My essay "The Day Our World Changed: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Circumstances" relays the effects of 9/11 on those who live within the NY metropolitan area, who were not hero's or direct victims, but had a story to tell. These stories depict the aftermath surrounding the World Trade Center and the effects on everyday life.

Excerpt

"Rob maneuvered through the deceptively bustling traffic, everyone was traveling so fast that it was difficult to distinguish the thirty-to-forty mile-per-hour increase from the norm. The distress of the other drivers, unmistakably apparent by the hazardous NASCAR-like-maneuvers on the Interstate, only added to the adrenaline-rush Rob had already been experiencing, spurring an insatiable thirst for additional speed. He hit shoulders and slowed through red traffic lights, determined to get to the elusive bridge and into New Jersey. (Incidentally, the bridge closed shortly after he made it across.)

Then it was a matter of two-wheel turns through Trenton, until he reached the open highway of the NJ Turnpike. Already doing one-hundred-plus miles-per-hour, Rob looked in the rearview mirror and saw red lights coming toward him. He’d been bangin’ gears, double footing, and pinning the gas pedal to the floor, but slowed however briefly to switch lanes, allowing safe passage of both marked and unmarked police cars that were heading north, presumably toward New York City.

Even after resuming near-warp speed, time seemed to stand eerily still. At that moment, it all became frighteningly clear . . .

It was in fact a free for all—a matter of survival.

Whether it was getting home to loved ones, or off to serve and protect—everyone was affected—and . . .

There were no rules."