Following is a sampling of stories and accounts from 8 years ago today.
Darlene Parker, NCI
NCI is very proud of our captioners and the dedication and strength that they showed in captioning the most difficult and emotionally challenging event of their careers. Everyone was calling and volunteering to work many extra hours, often in the middle of the night.
On the day of the disaster, our remote captioner, who began captioning WNYW, the FOX affiliate in New York at 5:30 a.m., stayed on the air and captioned for 8 ½ hours straight! She did that because she knew if she disconnected from WNYW's encoder, she would most likely not be able to re-establish a connection, due to the difficulty of calling New York, and there would be no captions during this critical time. When she was finally too exhausted to continue and had to disconnect, we were fortunate enough to re-establish a connection in about 20 minutes and keep captioning.
Just a few hours into the crisis, NCI, VITAC and The Caption Center conferred and coordinated efforts to ensure that all networks would continue to have uninterrupted captioning.
Obviously, there were problems calling New York. One reason was because of the flood of calls going into New York. The other reason was that Verizon and Sprint had telephone switches located in the World Trade Center, thus adversely affecting the 212 area code.
NCI had been connected to ABC's encoder since 4:15 a.m. on September 11, as usual. Due to the concern about not being able to establish a new connection to ABC's encoder, as is the usual procedure when transitioning between captioning companies, NCI and VITAC coordinated efforts to ensure a smooth transition of captioning. This was accomplished by having VITAC connect to ABC's encoder through NCI. This continued for two days, thus ensuring that the deaf and hard-of hearing audience would continue to be informed during such a frightening and critical time in our country's history.
Susan Wollenweber, RDR, CRR, Vitac
I am a brand new captioner, and I was thrilled to be "pressed into service" by VITAC to help caption the continuous coverage on September 11 and days after. It has never been so clear to me as it was on those days what an extremely vital role we as captioners play in millions of people's lives. I was so pleased and proud to be a part of the captioning team during this very difficult period in our country's history.
Elizabeth Williams - Captioning Coordinator, Caption Colorado
I'm the manager of captioning support for Caption Colorado, which means I carry day-to-day responsibilities with quality control and scheduling alike. I work closely with Patty White in "crisis mode" so that we can keep our captioners on the air when needed, but also, of course, make sure they get their breaks.
When the attack started on Tuesday morning, I was on the air (I am a captioner, too) with a Washington station. I quickly called our office manager in Denver. At that time the news was sketchy, but horrifying, and I knew this was going to be awful. We started receiving calls from stations right away. Patty White, Lynne Gallion, Linda MacDonald and I started coordinating the extra coverage needs.
That week, all of the managers had been getting calls from stations at all hours of the day and night. I remember that Wednesday Patty was getting calls until 2 in the morning, and then I took over for her. We did that continual spotting of each other throughout the coverage. Our wondeful captioners have really reached deep inside themselves, putting their own lives on hold so that they can help the deaf and hard of hearing. They've just been incredible. Some of them, including myself, had family near the World Trade Center. We were on the air, trying to do the best job we could, while worrying about our own loved ones, praying they survived. I remember the feeling of relief when I got an e-mail from my uncle saying he was okay. A few other captioners felt the same relief that their own families were okay. A few heard the terrible news that people they knew were missing.
The management team has tried hard to be there for our captioners, relieving them when they've had enough, making sure that nobody is called to work on their day off so they can be with their families, putting extra hours in ourselves when needed to give someone extra time to go take their children to school, or have lunch with a friend. We have been laughing this week because we're all finally getting to take showers!
I think the bottom line is we've all learned through this horrid tragedy that our families are sacred. The time we spend with them and our dear friends are precious, and once that time is gone we'll never get it back. Here at Caption Colorado, we strive to make sure everyone has that pricleless time. We've all leaned on each other and have become even closer, and that in itself is invaluable.
Sally Booth-Bennett, RMR, CRR - NCI
I work as an independent contractor with NCI. I captioned extensive, commercial-free broadcasts on WBNS (the CBS affiliate in Columbus, OH) during their evening and late-night news programs each day. On the day it occurred, I provided an extra hour's worth during the noon hour pro-bono. (Even though national was providing captions, they weren't appearing on our local station while the local info was being run across the bottom of the screen.)
It was some of the most difficult captioning I've ever had to do. With tears streaming down, I just had to keep writing. Could you imagine what it would have been like to have been deaf and watching the news without captions? As difficult as it is to watch, it would have been torture to watch without knowing what was happening. I like to think that we helped to make it all a little more bearable for the people who rely on captions. That was my driving force.
Mary Dowds, Victoria, BC, Canada
I'm a broadcast captioner living in Canada. I'm enclosing a copy of an e-mail I sent to Dr. Kathleen Cairns a few days after the attacks. I was on the air captioning when the attacks occurred and, as many other broadcast captioners, for many days I captioned hours upon hours of non-stop coverage of the events following the attacks. I suppose as a result of the shock, extreme emotion, and fatigue, I suffered sleeplessness and a terrible persistent headache, physical problems I'd never previously experienced. I remembered that stashed somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my desk drawer I had a tape that I'd purchased from the NCRA many years before -- it certainly was hand-up when I desperately needed it!
Here's the e-mail:
Dear Dr. Cairns:
I want to thank you for your wonderful "Breathe... as if your life depended on it" tape.
I am a broadcast captioner and the bulk of the T.V. programming that I caption is newscasts. I was on the air this past Tuesday when the tragedy in New York and Washington occurred. Since then, I've been captioning about eight hours a day of nothing but coverage of this horrific event. I've been experiencing sleep disruption, a great deal of anxiety and tremendous headaches. I have been taking Advil and Tylenol for the headaches, with little relief. This morning I was back on the air, immersed in a black dread, facing the prospect of many more days of working on nothing but this heartbreaking coverage. I remembered I had your tape stashed in my desk drawer, and I got it out and listened to it. What a tremendous experience! My seemingly unconquerable headache vanished and my whole outlook had shifted. It occurred to me that I should focus on the blessings in my life, including the gift I have of bringing information about this tragedy to the millions of North Americans who have experienced a hearing loss and rely on accurate closed captions.
Thank you so much for helping me (and helping me help others) at this difficult time.
Kathy Cassity, NCI
I am Kathleen Cassity of Honolulu, Hawaii, and I am an independent contractor closed captioner who takes work primarily through NCI. I captioned quite a bit of the news coverage during the disaster. I did mostly MSNBC as well as a bit of Fox and some local affiliates, including captioning two hours on the day of the tragedy at the New Jersey station WWOR, which was very close to ground zero.
The company tells me it was nice to have me on board because of my unique time zone, six hours behind the East Coast. When the stations announced they would be captioning around the clock, it was nice to have me on board at 3 a.m. Eastern time since that was only 9 p.m. to me, and it felt so good to be able to do something -- however little a thing it may have been -- to help out from six time zones and 5,000+ miles away. I have been the 3 a.m. MSNBC person for about eight days now.
The hardest physical aspect was the lack of commercial breaks (as well as the unpredictability of the schedule). I ended up very sore and needing treatment for my neck, hands and arms, but I did not matter because that was such a petty complaint in the face of everything else. I just did what I needed to do, and will continue to do so.
The hardest emotional part was that when you are the captioner, you cannot choose to turn off a story that is particularly upsetting to you (and we all seem to have certain aspects that just send us over the edge). I would find myself able to maintain professional distance for awhile (I often didn't look at the TV screen closely, just out of the corner of my eye and only enough to make sure the captions were coming up correctly). I would let the words just go through my brain and into my fingers and try not to think too much about when it meant. But then, something would come on the air that would just send me over the edge. For me it was usually anything to do with parents and kids--my son turned one year old on September 10. At those moments I was glad to be working in the privacy of my home and very happy to be one of the people behind the camera rather than in front of it. Still, you keep going.
Another hard part was that many of my friends, and my husband, found it therapeutic to get back to work because it gave them an opportunity to focus on something else. I, of course, had nothing else to focus on -- this was my work. I'm a very social person and a real down side of captioning for me has been working from home, which I find very isolating (though right now it's probably safer). This has made it even worse. It's like I'm trapped in a small room with nothing but this in my life. Once I realized this was a pitfall, I made some conscious plans to go do things outdoors, socialize with friends, and let something into my life other than this. It's hard to do that right now, though. I think it is for all of us. But it's also one of the only ways we have of making sure these terrorists do not get their way.
Katherine Parker-Rijke, NCI
My name is Katherine Parker-Rijke, CSR, RMR, CRR. I live in Southern California and remote caption live television broadcasts for the National Captioning Institute.
What was so challenging about captioning live television coverage of the September 11 terrorist attack was that the emotional impact of the enormity of the horror took its toll on me personally. My sister is a flight attendant for American Airlines, one of my sons is a pilot for United Airlines, and my other son is a firefighter paramedic. To caption well, you need 150% concentration, and it is difficult to concentrate with tears streaming down your face, shaking, and at times feeling like vomiting. Although my family members are safe -- thank you, God! -- captioning the coverage of the anguish experienced by the families of the pilots, flight attendants, firefighters and countless others was the first time in my 28-year career that I was not able to distance myself emotionally.
After 16 years of work in the Los Angeles Superior Court reporting horrific criminal cases, including death penalty cases, I thought I had the ability to steel my emotions and do my job. But nothing in my past prepared me for this...
Denise Nardulli, Caption Colorado
The captioners I work with are an exceptional bunch. Everyone pulls together during crises and emergencies, whether national or personal.
The 26-plus extra coverage that I did for the "Attack on America" were sporadic, mostly Tuesday through Friday, a little on Sat/Sun., in between my regular shows, which were also covering the same topic nonstop -- no commercials. In total, I estimate I captioned 50 hours in four days. The adrenaline keeps you going, after a while, it was almost as if you were on autopilot, dialing from station to station, after a while you watch the television and realize that you're captioning.
The emotions were hard to fight back. On Sunday I went to church hoping to mostly pray and get away from the visual images, but our Pastor had a soloist sing, and she had prepared a slide show presentation -- more visual images.
It was totally draining, to say the least. We caption from our homes, which was confining during the "Attack on America." There's no one in an office to say, "Oh, my God, did you see that? Do you believe this?" There's no one to cry with. You just keep wiping away the tears streaming down your face and keep writing, realizing how at that very moment your skills are truly needed more at that moment than during most times when you are on the air. Captioning shows like "Family Feud" just doesn't compare. You know the deaf viewers, especially the ones that are in New York or have relatives that were victims are anxiously awaiting your every stroke.
It was nice to have a Sunday with beautiful weather and to spend time with my family and really ENJOY every one of them. I am a single mom of two boys, 7 and 9.
Joan Livermore, NCI
I am a remote captioner/independent contractor with the National Captioning Institute. I wanted to share my story with you. The morning of September 11th, my daughter Katie ran into my room saying that something terrible had happened and all of our relatives were calling. My husband had just flown on that exact flight from Boston to LAX so there were lots of questions about his safety. (He's fine, thank God!) I immediately called NCI to see what I could do to help. Through the coming days I captioned many hours of MSNBC and Fox News Channel, both of which were new for me, maintaining my normal show schedule as well. I captioned at lots of strange hours with no commercials, and sometimes my hands were aching, not just from the speed but also from the emotional intensity. Sometimes I had to remind myself to breathe and relax. I quickly discovered I'd better not start crying because there's no time to wipe my eyes! I spent my off-hours torn between wanting to help my daughters understand what was going on (as if anyone could understand) and wanting to learn all I could so I could be as accurate as possible. I was never as keenly aware that there were very likely people hungry for information and hope, and my words on their screen were their connection to what was happening moment by moment in New York and D.C. Although this was certainly challenging, I am so grateful to have had this little way to help.
Adrena Ordubegian, Caption Colorado
This was clearly unlike anything I've ever captioned. We caption tragedies every single day on the news. You always feel bad for the car accident victims, the fire deaths, the murders. But the magnitude of this was incomparable to any of those stories. It was extremely painful to hear the stories coming out of New York and Washington D.C. To be honest, especially early on in all of this, I was wiping away tears and trying to separate myself from the content and focus on the words, which is what I normally do if it's an incredibly sad story. It was close to impossible to do that this time. Just when I would compose myself enough to get "back to normal", there would be another story that would get the tears going. One particular night, after captioning for two hours, I signed off, put my head on my desk, and just started sobbing. The individual stories hurt me very deeply to hear, family members with pictures of their loved ones, and hearing them break down mid-sentence as they are begging for any information on their whereabouts. You want so much to help these people. There was and still is a sick feeling in my heart. It's hard, if not impossible, to be jaded while captioning this type of devastation, even though the prior week as I was probably captioning my thousandth murder-suicide without batting an eye. I do my job proudly, knowing that there are many, many people who are counting on us to tell them what is going on. As a captioner I feel connected somehow to all of this.
Molly J. Foti, National Captioning Institute
Aside from it being an emotional roller coaster to caption with tears rolling down my cheeks at what seemed every personal horror story, I was extremely comforted in knowing that not only was the deaf/hard of hearing community relying on our captions, but so were the millions trapped in airports while the planes were grounded. I was personally hungry for more and more information. I can't imagine what it must be like for those who couldn't just click on their televisions and listen away. It's times like these that give your job that added meaning and feeling of value.
Kelly DeVito, Caption Colorado
This was definitely the worst experience in my career yet. I was on the air from 6-9a EST, and the first crash started getting coverage around 8:55a. My station cut to "The Early Show," and I started watching myself. The first two days were so shocking to me. I live in the Denver area, but I'm originally from Rochester, NY. A few of my friends live in NYC and Long Island. The first thing I did was call them all to be sure everyone was safe. Thank God, they are...
For me, generally working five or six hours a day, I was completely overwhelmed. I put in nine hours on 9/11 and 10.5 hours on 9/12, five on 9/13 and eight on 9/14. I never worked as a court reporter so didn't have the experience of writing straight through for three hours or more at a time.
I think that Thursday and Friday were by far the hardest. When they started telling the personal stories from loved ones in the area, I was a complete mess. I'm sitting at my home office, tears streaming down my face, my lips trembling and arms shaking, trying only to think about the deaf and HOH community that would be lost without us. That's what really pulled me through this all. I kept thinking through all of this that my job matters. I'm the ears for countless people. That feeling helped me tremendously.
Peggy Thompson, NCI
My name is Peggy Thompson, and I work for the National Captioning Institute. I've had many people ask what it's like to provide such coverage. My answer is at a time when many Americans are feeling utterly helpless, providing captions for the hard of hearing makes me feel like I'm contributing in some way to help people and making a difference in their lives.
Laura Mydelski, RPR, CRR, Caption Colorado
I must tell you at a time like this I, like everyone, feel helpless and in shock over the unbelievable events. And then when shock wears off a little, you realize that you have an important job to do that will help be the ears to inform a huge section of our society, the deaf and hard of hearing, who desperately need to know what's going on. Everyone at our company, Caption Colorado, banded together to provide the continuous coverage that needed to be done around the clock, from morning through night. When one was too weary from the long hours and days, another was there to take over and support one another. We tried to help one another through e-mail that gave prayers, well wishes to all those involved.
Sitting and writing the most depressing, horrific events is difficult, but what was most difficult is when I leave my office in my home and walk out, and I am greeted with the television that my husband is watching. There was no escape. What didn't help in my situation as well was Tropical Storm Gabrielle passed through our area in Tampa, Florida. The day was dark, rainy, windy, overall gloomy, just like everyone's mood around the country.
We had to constantly keep informed with changing information of names of places, people and terminology, which was a challenge. We were always an e-mail away with help with any spellings or questions. It was and is a collaborative effort that makes it a lot easier to have the support of your fellow employees to share frustrations and fears. So we do our jobs and know that what we are doing is very important and appreciated. And we, along with the entire nation, continue to wait and see what is coming next, and we, captioners, are there, front and center, like soldiers waiting for word to go back to work.
Alexa Budihas, RPR, CRR, NCI
I was just about to go on the air at 8:54 a.m. that day. I was covering Bloomberg T.V., and we switch at :52. Basically, I was going on the air just after seeing video of the first plane hit the first tower. I was in shock immediately and had the feeling that it wasn't an accident but that it was a planned scenario. I began to caption and my writing was so poor, I had to mentally slap myself and remind myself that there were people out there that needed to know what was going on and that I had better get it together. So, for the next hour, as the second plane hit the second tower and the original news was being reported, I sat in front of the television, captioning and crying. It was one of the most difficult moments I believe I have ever had, but I was glad and still am glad to be part of the coverage of the tragedy besetting the United States of America for the hard-of-hearing and deaf community, even though it is so dreadfully sad.
Jennifer M. Bonfilio, CRR, RMR, NJCaptions
I am an independent contractor for the National Captioning Institute. I captioned dozens of hours of continuing coverage for New York's local news stations. These special reports were all commercial-free, which basically means I captioned for hours on end without a break, especially the day it happened. I know one captioner who was on the air for 8 1/2 hours straight.
Those first four days of captioning was a unique experience. As captioning requires great concentration, it was impossible not to become emotional while on the air. Several times during the week, I teared up as the horrific events of that day unfolded. However, I knew I had to stay focused. I became almost numb to the sights and sounds. By the end of the day Friday, as soon as I got off the air, I completely broke down, releasing the enormous amount of grief and anger that I wasn't able to express during the week.
I wish I could have done more to contribute something to our country during this catastrophe, but at the very least, I was able to listen for someone who couldn't and convey vital information we all so desperately are trying to understand.
Katherine Cuneo, Caption Colorado
The morning of September 11th, as I turned on my local news and saw the horror, my first action was to call everyone I loved to make sure they knew I loved them, just in case this was The End. My next action was to go to my e-mail and see what captioning shifts were open. I knew we'd be spread thin by all this extra coverage. I also knew there would be messages of love and support from fellow captioners, along with spellings (man, oh, manischewitz, those spellings!). I captioned my regular captioning day along with extra shifts in between, and I learned you can caption through tears, through hysteria, through heartache, through rage. In fact, I think the constant activity of captioning during the crisis kept me from falling apart. My last shift one night that first crazy week ended at midnight Pacific time, and when I felt physically exhausted and sore, as well as emotionally spent and spiritually confused due to my growing fears, I got an unexpected gift. The last half hour of my captioning day was coverage of the church service from Washington, D.C., where I saw Democrats and Republicans side by side, a curious and wonderful sight. I filled myself with the hope and comfort and messages of love from the various religious leaders, and I remembered that we are mortals after all, and that nobody can really, truly hurt me. Sure, they can kill me with anthrax or small pox or a bomb or a nuclear winter, but they can't really hurt me, the soul that animates this flesh, the spirit that makes me, well, me. The Bible I had begged for as a Christmas gift last year was getting dusty under the sofa, and I brought it to bed with me and re-read a passage that had been quoted at the National Cathedral, and as those loud military planes patrolled the skies overhead, I drifted off to a world of peace, even if only for eight hours.