A Military Eksusize

Shortly after I arrived at work this morning, I overheard someone in an office near my cubicle on the phone with security asking what is going on with “the three planes.” I had no idea what was happening. Minutes later, the entire building was told to evacuate.

We went outside to the designated spot where my business group is supposed to gather during emergencies. We have rehearsed this in fire drills before. When I  got outside, there were thousands of people around who evacuated from my building and the others surrounding it. No one knew exactly what was going on, but there were rumors of a movie shoot. Movie shoot??

People tried finding out the news on their Blackberries but there was no news about it. I tried calling the boy only to find that phone lines weren’t going through. The people I work with who were here during 9/11 were particularly unnerved as this was reminscent of their experience then. Including the announcements that “all is fine, you can go back to your desks.”

Some people had looked out their windows in my office and seen 3 planes swooping very near to the building. Two of these planes were fighter jets. I wasn’t about to go back in until I knew exactly what was going on and that these planes were no longer in the air. A man with a loudspeaker was announcing that we should all go back to work.

A coworker and I approached two policemen, who told us that the three planes were a “military exercise” and assured us that they had already landed. I decided it was okay to go back to my desk. By then, the news had caught wind of the story. You can probably imagine how furious I was to read that this was planned, but security was NOT informed. I was even more furious to learn that the purpose was a PHOTO OP to make it look like Air Force One.

I would think — but what do I know — that it would be COMMON SENSE to um, INFORM security in lower Manhattan of ALL places about airplanes swooping in circles around their buildings. I work right next to the WTC site. I walk by it every day. Many people I work with were here when that happened. I read stories today about evacuations that occured all over lower Manhattan and Jersey City. Evacuations where pregnant women ran down 50 flights of steps. Evacuations where people ran so quickly down the stairs that they fell and injured themselves. Evacuations that caused panic attacks. And I am sure there are more stories like this.

I can’t imagine what they could have been thinking by choosing not to give a little heads up to everyone about this. It was planned. Did they really think this wouldn’t cause a major disturbance?

The email we received in the office came from the head of New York and New Jersey protective services. It said, “This morning, the U.S. Air Force conducted a military training exercise in the downtown area between 10 and 10:30 am. A low-flying commercial-size jet and two F-16s flew low over the Hudson River and circled several times around 10 a.m., causing some evacuations of office buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, N.J.

The maneuver was not an emergency and we were not notified in advance.”

Lovely.

And look at this line from this article: “Later on Monday morning, the Police Department acknowledged that it had been notified about the event but said it had been barred from alerting the public.”

The police were barred from alerting the public?

I can’t. I have no words for this. I really hope someone gets in some serious trouble for this.

**UPDATE** Click here for more pictures. And I meant to add (I remembered when I saw Roberto’s comment) that I don’t get why they couldn’t Photoshop what they needed rather than scaring the entire city. OK. Rant done.

Anyway.

The reason I got in late this morning (imagine I got in after the evacuation and it was totally empty??) was because I finally got that x-ray done I had written about last week. I was able to get the pill from my doctor’s office on Tuesday morning. I had to get it from the front desk girl who had originally sent me away. Someone else left it in an envelope (very professional) with my name on it.

The girl made a point of going through every envelope over and over, looking annoyed. I knew she wanted me to think it wasn’t there and go away. I waited. Finally I decided to try and help: “There’s a pill in it, so it won’t be a flat envelope,” I said so she could shift her focus. Instead, she snapped, “If it’s here I’ll see it!”

Whoa. Okay. Eventually she did find it in the pile — after passing through it a few times, I might add. She gave it to me and when I got to work I called radiology.

“Hi, I’m just calling because I need to come in for an x-ray on Monday and I want to be sure someone can do it,” I told the person on the phone. “Yeah, just come in then.” “Okay,” I began. “But the thing is, last time they first had to check when I got there if a doctor was even available. I need to be 100% sure that a doctor will be available when I come on Monday.” The woman assured me that as long as I got there early, I would be seen. She said the doctors get in at 8:30, but I would be safe if I got there at 8:00.

Okay, so far so good.

So on Wednesday morning I took the pill. Five days later, Monday arrived. It couldn’t have come any sooner. I get to radiology at 7:45 and tell the woman why I am there. She said, “Oh, did you call last week about this?” I told her I did and she said, “You never called me back! You weren’t supposed to just come here!”

My heart dropped.

You all know that I confirmed and reconfirmed that not only is this a walk-in situation where they do NOT take appointments, but I spoke to them on the phone last week and they told me to get there early. AND I checked with my doctor and he also promised that someone would be able to do it as long as I went during the week.

“Uhhh… you never told me to call you back. You just said to get here at 8:00 so I could be seen,” I said.

“No, no, you called because you didn’t know when you were supposed to come. I told you that you need to talk to your doctor and call me back. You were supposed to call me back. You can’t just walk in here! How do you even know this is the right day?”

“Um.. I think that was someone else. We never had that conversation. I knew what day to come and I just called to confirm I could be seen today,” I explained.

“Oh, okay. Then I guess it was someone else,” she said. Go have a seat and someone will be with you shortly.”

Phew. Bullet dodged.

I sat down and not too long after a tech called me in. He had me change into a gown. Now, I am no stranger to hospital gowns. But this one was unlike any other. The ties just didn’t work. I ended up having to twist it far and tight around my body and tie a tiny little knot all the way on my side near my back. That can’t be right.

I went to the room and he took 2 x-rays. The tech said the pictures looked great and told me to get dressed and wait in the waiting room while he shows them to the doctor. A few minutes later, he comes out and tells me the doctor isn’t in yet, but he is sure the pictures are fine and I could leave.

I know, I know. I probably should have stayed and waited for a doctor to get in. But. I was in an insane amount of pain as a result of this test. All I could think about was getting home as quickly as possible to do what needed to be done to relieve the pain. And I left.

I’m not concerned. I’m sure it is fine. I’m just glad it is over.

So in doormat news.

Coco Mats ‘N More is seriously the nicest company ever. After the contest was over they emailed me to let me know they decided to give ME a free mat, too!

After careful deliberation, I decided on this mat for myself:

And Andrea, the winner of the contest chose this one:

Thank you Coco Mats ‘N More! Oh and one more note — Coco Mats now has a blog!

What a beautiful, warm weekend this was! I went to both Core Fusion Basic and Transfigure. Keep in mind I went to Physique 57 on Thursday! Ouch. I was so excited to write about Core Fusion (and the difference in their beginner class versus Physique’s) that I started blogging  about it as soon as I  got home not realizing that I was  going to be late for dinner! I also ran outside again and have a bit to say on that as well. I also need to discuss the service I received last night at a restaurant. But I’ll leave it for tomorrow since this one is long. Stupid planes.

Please enter my Venus Week Giveaway Contest if you haven’t yet — I will announce the winner tomorrow!