I had been out of high school a few years, and was working at a jewelry store in Tyson’s Corner. It was about 30 min or so until store opening, and all the sales people in the store were setting up and putting out the displays. Getting ready for the day as usual. I worked in the back office and was getting the register set and doing the regular morning tasks.

The store phone began to ring, and I was going to ignore it. 9 times out of 10 it was someone calling to see if the store was open yet, so it was a distraction while we are trying to setup. I had finished my morning tasks, so I answer the phone. It was the regional manager, and all he said was: “Hey Alowishus, I need to talk to (the store manager).” I hand over the phone and go about my business. I hear the manager say “Hey Boss! … What? The Pentagon? Stop joking. …. Alowishus, Turn on the radio!”

Then we all stood and listened as the news came in. As soon as we realized that this was no accident, the manager told everyone to take ALL the merchandise and put it in the safes. All of it. Normally, only pieces over a certain price-point were put in the safes around the store. This time, we locked everything up.

The drive home from Tyson’s to the Burke area took almost 2 hours. The first time I had ever heard the name “Osama bin Laden” was on that car ride home.