On September 11, 2008, I had an early appointment in Midtown. I got on the F train to Manhattan a little after 8AM. A few stops later, a middle aged fireman in full formal dress uniform got on the train. He was headed to the site of the World Trade Center, which the F stops nearby. The memorial service was about to begin.

The subtly evolving expression on his face, as the train got closer to lower Manhattan, told the story. A stoic portrait of restrained grief, with a stare fixed on some indescript part of the train, like a railing or subway ad. He would glance away from it for a second, look quickly around the train, and go back to staring at it.

The closer to Manhattan we got, the more he tried to contain the emotion.

He had already left the train when 8:46AM arrived on the large LED clock in the subway car, I noticed a number of people watching the clock then & also at 9:05.

The train was pretty silent for a morning commute.

After my appointment, I walked back downtown to see Ground Zero.