[Matt D.]

I was only a couple months into my new position at TCF, didn't really know everyone around me. News got out that the WTC was hit by a plane, so a couple of people turned on a radio, and the one of the executives who had an office near our desks brought out a black and white 5" television. We watched replay after replay of the first plane hitting the towers, then we saw one of them disappear. It was hard to tell what exactly happened and what was going on because the reception sucked. The radio confirmed what was going on. A few of us were also trying to access news sites on the internet, but they were all flooded and unable to be reached.

Once the local government got word of what was going on, the state capitol was locked down, and the downtown Minneapolis government buildings were sealed up, the IDS tower was evacuated and closed. The TCF tower is right next to the IDS, and we too were told to leave. This was before noon, and my car was in Burnsville at the park & ride. Luckily I worked with someone who had to drive down that way, so I had a ride to my car, but still had to drive home to Owatonna. All the way home I listened to the news on the radio, and Jesse Ventura even gave a little speech on KDWeeB on what actions the state government was taking.

Later that afternoon almost everyone was rushing to the gas stations in fear of gas prices skyrocketing. I had to bowl in a league that evening, and there were cars backed up for blocks at every gas station in town... Quite an amazing sight to see. I was even called an idiot for thinking that there was no big deal in not needing to get gas that evening.