This has attracted top advertisers, with top dollars, which have created the commercials to be as much of an attraction as the main event itself. I would even argue more so for the non-football fan.

In years past, you would have to wait for an advertising critics “best of” list to be published to get an idea of how others perceived the commercials. But today in the Age of Everybody, Twitter and Facebook were blazing yesterday. Was there a female with an account not commenting on the David Beckham H&M ad?

So, we want to capture everyone’s reaction to the commercials. Our list is not compiled by the ECD, Agency leadership, or selected few. Our list, true to our Idea Breeder philosophy, is a compilation of people across the various disciplines, of different generations, and different perspectives.

What is awesome is how different the reactions are. Because in the Age of Everybody – personal preference still matters. And I think that says a great deal.

Ambrosio Ballon, Junior Art Director
Watched the game at a friend’s house.

1. Chrysler – It’s Halftime
2. Chevy Silverado – 2012
3. Kia – A Dream car for a real life
4. Acura – Transactions
Audi – Vampire Party

Sarah Atta, Assistant Media Planner

1. David Beckham- Body Wear
2. Pepsi w/ Elton John and Flava Flav
3. Bud light – the upscale looking party showing high class
4. M&Ms- little M&M starts dancing to “Sexy and I know it”
5. Teleflora with Adriana Lima.

Pavel Escobedo, Sr. Strategic Planner
First at the Brit Bar, couldn’t hear very well so I went to my neighbor’s house.

1. Fiat – Abarth funny, good branding
2. VW – Beetle, cute, good insight!
3. Chevy Silverado. Mayan calendar. Funny.
4. H&M – Beckham, this could be first place…. I don’t want to be stereotyped!… Well… You know..
5. Audi – Vampires! … Funny, good link between a trend, vampires and a product feature.

Karen Treydte, VP/Director of Media Services
I watched the Super Bowl here at home with a couple of friends and Georgie!!!
Lots of great spots to choose from this year!!!

1) New Beetle (Dog getting in shape, Darth Vader…etc.)
2) Acura NSX (Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno)
3) Honda CRV (Matthew Broderick)
4) Audi (Vampires)
5) Hyundai (Cheetah)

Geez…just realized my top five were all car companies!!!

Honorable Mention
1) Pepsi (Elton John)
2) “The Voice Promo” spot with Betty White

Tony Escandón, Assistant Account Executive
Where: Uncle Barry’s Bar in Brooklyn, my friend owns the bar
Criteria: funny, insight, aesthetic, brand, surprise

1. Dorito’s Fluffy commercial
2. Chevy’s Sonic Skydive/Kickflip/Bungee Jump
3. Toyota Time Traveling Baby
4. Hyundai’s Rocky Commercial
5. Audi’s Vampires Commercial

Worst:
Honda’s Ferris Bueller Rip off. Shame on you Matt how could you.

P.S. Go Giants!!!

Andres Munera, Sr. Art Director

Geico (girls… so gross)
Audi (Vampires)
Chevy (Mayan Apocalypse)
Budweiser (prohibition is over)
Volkswagen (The Dog Strikes Back)
Teleflora (Valentines day, Adriana lima)
Skechers (Go Run Mr. Quiggley)
Toyota Camry (Reinvented)
Optima Ikea (A dream car. For real life)

Lauren Pimentel, Account Executive
Watched the Super Bowl at a friends house with about 20 male & female twenty-something’s.
1.  M&M “I’m sexy and I know it”
2. Acura Jerry Seinfeld
3. Doritos baby sling
4. ETrade Baby Speed Dating
5. Fiat Italian Lady/Car

Criteria: ads that got the most attention

Elias Weinstock, CCO
At home with the family, friends and lots of food, beer and wine

Was disappointed by the spots, the great game was a nice surprise.
The ones I liked the most:

Chrysler Clint Eastwood spot
Doritos Dog spot
GMC Armageddon spot
Toyota Camry spot
Seinfeld Nissan spot
Avengers (movie spot)

David Martinez, Account Supervisor
Watched the game at my friend’s house, with 10 other people, all guys, no girls allowed

1. Doritos, dog, didn’t see anything. My type of humor the entire room liked it
2. Sketchers go run, real funny commercia, everyone in the room laughed out loud
3. Galaxy Note Samsung – fun commercial, direct attack against Apple
4. Fiat – sexy funny commercial, didn’t expect it would be a Fiat commercial
5. Metlife – I’m a sucker for all those old school commercial

Overall, the commercials were really bad this year; I had a hard time coming up with the list.

The party I was with said the same

Karla Kruger, Group Account Director
Watched it with friends at home

Skechers – Go run
Cars.com – confidence
Acura – Seinfeld and Leno
Honda – Ferris Bueller
Coke – Open Happiness

Stephanie Tagle, Sr. Strategic Planner

Watched it at a Super Bowl party in LA where quite frankly, it was tough to hear the ads. But it wasn’t loud enough not to notice the frequent usage of supermodels and girls in bikinis in several of the ads.

1 – Chrysler with Clint Eastwood – inspirational and epic… what I envision Super Bowl ads should be
2 – Acura with Jerry Seinfeld… entertaining and got me excited about the new NSX
3 – Chevy Silverado (end of the world spot)… Chevy tough came across strongly and entertainingly. Plus it was visually impressive.
4 – Coke (polar bears frolicking)… It’s classic Coke. Open a bottle and just enjoy and be happy.
5 – H&M… because I can’t think of anyone better to sell men’s underwear than David Beckham.

Melanie Cyr, Account Director
I will tell you the Automotive industry really scored well.

My top favorites were:

Fiat- Girl speaks Italian
Chrysler corporation – Clint Eastwood.. WOW.. that one was powerful
Volkswagen – Dog loses weight
Chevy Sonic – featuring Rob Dyrdeck skateboarder
Toyota – Reinvent for Camry
Doritos – BOTH fluffy the cat and Baby Sling
The Voice – Betty white
Kia – with Adriana Lima
H&M – David Beckham
Chevy Camaro – Graduate
TaxAct.com – Boy pees in pool

Lots of good stuff.. but this is it.

It’s called “Sh*t Girls Say,” and features a guy dressed up like a girl and acting out all the funny and sometimes ridiculous things that most females say and do.

It started from a Twitter feed calling out short phrases, comments, and observations about anything and everything.  Nothing deep- just markedly female (as in, you’d probably never hear a guy say the same thing or the same way).

It has also sparked a number of spin offs, like “Sh*t Asian Girls Say,” “Sh*t Black Girls Say,” and my personal favorite, “Sh*t Single Girls Say.”

This one hit a little too close to home but maybe also made me feel a little less crazy. After all, there are others are just like me =)

Say what you will about what this says about women, gender stereotypes, our society, etc. but I prefer to take it as it is.

And that is funny, surprisingly true, and maybe a bit eye-opening.

We are SO, SO, SO over you!

Sincerely,

Everyone

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now in the age of Poor Exhaustion.

We tried the Groupon thing.  We tried the movie night, game night, stay-cation and every other staying-put thing only to realize that being grounded doesn’t get any easier when you are an adult, or even when it’s self-imposed.

Some people, especially the ‘non-ethnic’ folks on NPR mask Poor Exhaustion with “post consumerism” judgmental rhetoric, and with thoughts for Christmas gifts, such as, (and I am not making this up), jars of hugs and favors like folding your laundry.  Who are we kidding?  We don’t want you to help fold our underwear.  What we want is to go back to the good old days when you bought us stuff we don’t really need but gave us a 5 minute high.

You’re not buying this?

What do you think Occupy is really about?  Dig deep below the reasons on why we should support homeless encampments, and you find that the 99% really wants a bigger slice of the pie. We were promised an apartment in the Upper East Side but somehow got stuck in Brooklyn.

It is what fuels the Kardashian phenomena. Sex and the City brought us the world of omnipotent power brokers in Jimmy Choos. Well, if you look closely what are the Kardashians?  The difference was that Carrie and friends were fantasy, and the Kardashian empire is reality; and don’t bother explaining to a Kardashian fan how it’s not real. Carrie and friends had fantasy jobs, while the Kardashians simply fit into the right glass slipper; and isn’t every little girl taught that being at just the right wishing well, cottage, or castle at just the right moment, guarantee you a crown and infinite happiness?

Black Friday went from an occurrence for extremists to a cultural game of sport.  Admit it, even my judgmental NPR friends, you at least looked at the sales. And if you are being honest with yourself, you too would stand in line for 5 hours for a $100 flat screen if it was guaranteed that you wouldn’t get trampled, peppered sprayed, suffer from the indignity of 4 a.m., and supply was plentiful.

Also look at what hasn’t taken off.  Groupon en español? Univision has tried but it has never taken off. And it won’t. This poor thing is not new for many Latinos.  We will go to la Waal-mar but we’re not taking a coupon unless we have to because it’s a really, really sweet deal. Quinceañeras are still happening, just with more padrinos and selling off some jewelry. And who needs la Waal-mar when the outlets are filled to the brim so that your tio can sport some Polo?  Latino yuppies?  They are still there; it’s just that they are parking their Lexus in their parents driveway.

So, yes recession we are over you.

We don’t like feeling poor.  Feeling poor makes us feel insecure and weak because we lack control of our destiny. A totally irrational proposition, since any Shakespearean tale reveals that even the mighty fall.  But our irrational eyes choose not to see that.

We want to go back to normal.

Photo Credit: ksat.com, thisblogrules.com, blog.makeupbymario.com, tamarackswimclub.com

______________________

He sits is the dark. Pensive. You can tell just by looking at him that he wants a smoke real bad. He’s fidgety. Twitchy. Yeah, he’s concentrating on the power point before him, but you can sense he wants a Pall Mall more than anything in life.

He looks up and sees you standing there. Big brown ugly bags under his eyes. That look, the one you despise so much, the “judging look” you call it.

Paralysis. Misery. The great unhappiness. Every time. It never changes. “Just say it” you think. “Put an end to my anxiety, kill the suspense for the love of God.”

“Not bad, but I think it needs another go…” That’s all he says. Just stares. Awaiting your response.

“Another go punk? Another go? This is the thirteenth round of revisions you marvelous and fabulous moron, what do you mean another go?”

But you cannot say it, can you? You just can’t. It’s almost as if he has a power over you. The binding power. You read about it in one of your obscure books your ex-wife hated so much, the one about Honduran demons, myths and lore. The power that binds one hostage. The power of a Nine. Yeah, that’s right, according to that book, there are nines in this world.

Strange beings with magical powers, beings that can destroy the world with one thought. Nines. Most humans are sevens, chimps and monkeys, sixes. Koalas eights. Was he a Nine? Probably.

“Do you agree?” He stands up, goes towards his window, looks out at the gloomy skyline.

He turns. Looks down on you. You look around his corner office. You look at all of his trophies. All of his awards. Your mind wanders yet again. Maybe not a Nine, but a Sith, yeah, that’s more fitting isn’t it?

“When your power eclipses mine I will become expendable. This is the Rule of Two: one Master and one apprentice. When you are ready to claim the mantle of Dark Lord as your own, you must do so by eliminating me.” How the hell do you remember that? You cannot remember what happened yesterday at the client meeting, but The Rule of Two, that one is embedded in your head.

“I said, do you agree?” He says this, his back still to you.

“Yes master.” Is all you can come up with.

“What?”

“I said, yes master.” You stare at him. And he starts laughing.

“Here, sit down.” He points towards the table in the middle of his office.

“I really think that the great difficulty in bringing a brand positioning out in the open, into its final shape and context, is the old one of not being able to see the forest for the trees.” He looks out his window again. The sky has begun to turn dark, white caps are now visible in the distance and horrid, grey, menacing clouds cover the horizon.

“There are such great number of trees, we must somehow bring the underlying scheme or pattern of words into emphasis, so that the consumer will be able to see the forest in spite of the many trees, does that make sense?”

“Funnily, it does.” You reply. Rain drops begin to cover the window of his office.

“Do you see the forest, or do you see the trees?”

“I see the forest.”

“Good…and?”

“Too long, it needs to be simpler. A simpler message.”

“Correct.”

“Who’s in?” You blurt out, surprised. Where did that come from? You have been pondering, obsessing over the brief and the strategy for the last 24 hours and you never thought of it until now. Until you saw the forest for the trees.

“That is brilliant, that is what we need…”Who’s in?”, that is it. Awesome.” He smiles, pats you in the back.

“You can breathe easier now.”

“By the way, I wanted to tell you something.” He almost looks sad, but you know it’s not sadness, it’s old age. It’s too many years in this business. You think of a line you read somewhere or saw in a movie, “Time spent in the advertising business seems to create a permanent deformity like the Chinese habit of foot-binding.” That is exactly it, the man looks deformed.

“What is it?” You say, a sense of dread building at the tip of your stomach. The storm is here, lighting hits the sky. The lights inside the office flicker for a nano-second.

“I’m out, management feels I’ve gotten silly in my old age, they don’t need me around anymore, I’m not hip, I’m not with it, they feel I’ve lost the edge.”

You just mange to stare at him.

“Hey kid, don’t look so sad, it’s actually great news for you…they’re giving you my office and my title.”

Another lighting bolt. This one brighter.

“One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand…” And then thunder roars. And you cannot say a thing. He goes behind his door and grabs his coat.

“I’ll have the movers clear everything out by the end of the week, if you want to start moving your stuff in, that will be fine…”

He puts on his coat. Begins to step out. Then stops. Turns around. Looks around his office one more time. Smiles.

Walks out, but before he does, he turns and looks at you. Was that an evil look? Was that a flicker of hate on his eyes?

“Two” he says.

You get goose bumps. Darkness has fallen.

“Two what?”

Looks at his office one more time, turns and walks away, and as he does, he says one last thing:

“Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it. Always two, a master…and an apprentice.”

Photo Credit: murilloamorim.com, evil-wallpapers.com, redbubble.com

Notice anything?

There’s no mention of dollar menus, happy meals, sizzling burgers or anything remotely associated with fast food – and why should it?

It doesn’t go head-to-head with the other fast food brands, and it doesn’t have to. In 2 minutes, Chipotle has created their own sub-category.

This is a much bigger idea than getting a quick meal at a drive through. It’s about a bigger purpose: going back to basics and treating food (and where it comes from) with respect and integrity.

BONUS: Check out the “Making of…” video

Photo Credit: thebenjamin.files, stevegarufi.com

A recently released study from the Pew Research Center says that the median wealth of white households in the U.S is 18 times greater than the wealth of Latino households.

Why?

1. The bursting of the housing market bubble in 2006

“Sixty-six percent of their [Latinos] net worth* derives from home equity,” Kochhar says. “And they are concentrated geographically in parts of the country such as California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, where the housing downturn was most severe.”

Consequently, the average Hispanic family lost two-thirds of its wealth between 2005 and 2009.

Even though the recession officially ended in mid-2009 and the stock market has rebounded, Latinos have not benefited since such a small percentage are invested in stocks, mutual funds and retirement accounts. Meanwhile, the housing market has yet to recover.

2. The recession that followed from late 2007 to mid-2009

Hispanics are more likely to be unemployed due to the recession, forcing them to dig into assets (like savings or pensions funds) or increasing their debt load (through credit cards, education loans, etc.).

As a result, about 1/3 of Hispanic households had zero or negative net worth at the end of the recession in 2009 — twice the level of white families.

What does this mean for brands?

The news can be disheartening to brands as consumers reevaluate purchases and disposable income, however, there’s still some positive news:

1. Household wealth, which, in the case of Latinos, is mainly derived from home equity, has no direct effect on spending power. Although it can be psychologically and emotionally damaging, the loss of home equity does not also mean a reduction in income.
2. Simmons data (Winter 2011 NHCS Adult Survey 12-month) shows us that compared to the Total Population, Latinos are optimistic about an economic recovery and their ability to make purchases:

• Economic Outlook – Next 12 months: Significantly Better Off (Index 117)
• Economic Outlook – Next 12 months: Significantly Better Off (Index 165)
• Buy Big Ticket Items - Last 30 Days: (Index 130)
• Household Essentials – Expect to Spend: A Lot Less (Index 121), but we also see A Lot More (Index 126)
• I Go Shopping Frequently: (Index 120)
• Hard To Resists Kids Requests for Non-Essentials: (Index 140)
• Movie Attendance – How Often Last 30 Days: 3-4 (Index 133) and 5+ (Index 186)

It’s true – many Latinos are struggling financially. We’re seeing it in the data and we’re seeing it first-hand in ethnographies across the country.

Even so, Latinos will continue to spend and it’s important for brands to understand how to make their products relevant to this growing consumer base — that’s a topic for future posts

###

* Household wealth is the accumulated sum of assets (houses, cars, savings and checking accounts, stocks and mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc.) minus the sum of debt (mortgages, auto loans, credit card debt, etc.). It is different from household income, which measures the annual inflow of wages, interest, profits and other sources of earning. Wealth gaps between whites, blacks and Hispanics have always been much greater than income gaps.

Source: “Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Grows Wider“ – NPR

Source: “Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics” – Pew Research Center

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE:

The report that I heard on NPR was about the poverty statistics from the 2010 Census, specifically, the way the US federal government defines the poverty line (a family of four with an income of $22,000). Data shows how the current poverty rate is 15.1% and almost 50 million people are living below the poverty line–the highest in 17 years.

Among Hispanics, this number is even more dramatic at 27%, which is very similar to African Americans. The report also mentioned other important information that tells us about how the great recession is affecting the life of many Americans. For example:

• The continuing rise in child poverty, now at 22%. This brings negative generational expectations, with a higher likelihood of dropping out of school and not going to college, which will depress salaries for the next generation. In addition, I think we need to consider how this will impact health and nutrition and at what rate.
• The number of young adults (25-34) living with their parents now totals 6 million (an increase of 1 million). If they were living on their own, they’d be classified as poor, according to the Census.
• A 10% increase in double-up homes. That means homes shared by more than one family, and amounts to 22 million.

What are the short and long term implications for these families, young adults and children?

What will be the impact that these figures, this reality, has for us as marketers and people in advertising?

Unfortunately, with the downturn in construction and manufacturing jobs, and an overall depressed job market, the near future doesn’t look very optimistic. If we choose to adapt our communications and products for these consumers, as a society, are we accepting that here in the richest country on earth, poverty is ok? Do we adjust to things instead of changing them?

What do you think?

photo credit: AmericanPoverty.org

Where were you when you first heard that…..

…the stock market crashed?

…Pearl Harbor was attacked?

…the President was shot?

…Martin Luther King died?

…Lennon was dead?

…the Challenger shuttle crashed?

These are the questions that define a generation.  They remind us that we are part of an extended community, in our otherwise separate lives.

We asked the members of our Agency: where were you when you first heard about the events on 9/11?

The responses exceeded our expectations.  They are powerful.  They are insightful.  They remind us that ten years later the wound is still tender, even though by all appearances it has healed.

We only made one request: limit all answers to 140 characters or less.  Yes, the age of Twitter.

But few people managed to stick to this limitation.

It has been 10 years.  That means that today’s 50-year-old was 40- well into their career.  That 30-year-old was a wide-eyed 20 year old getting ready to start their turn.  That 20-year-old sitting across from you was in Middle School.

The responses are richly detailed.  People can recall nearly every aspect of that day as if they were describing a photograph right in front of them.  They can tell you where their coffee cup was, the color pen in their hand, weather, songs, sitting or standing.

These adults, professionals, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters can still tell the shock.

Our question started off as a simple idea to commemorate the events of 9/11.

We asked where people first heard of the events, because it would be interesting to see how much media had changed the role in plays in our lives.  Certainly if the events would happen today we would first hear about them through an instant email service we subscribe to, Twitter or Facebook.

Facebook didn’t exist 10 years ago.  Would Facebook have changed our responses?  Remember how we wondered when it was ok to go back to a movie, get back on a plane, take down our American flag?  Would Facebook have been our collective therapy session?  Would Facebook have told us that we were all right?

The responses also reveal that 10 years later it is so easy to say 9/11.  We say it as if it was an event, a singular occurrence.  It was a day, but it was anything but a singular occurrence.  It was a nightmare that manifested before our eyes; and we were in too much shock to hope it was all a bad dream.

Here are the responses in their entirety, without editing, and in no particular order.

______________________________________________________________

Vanessa Martinez: When 9/11 occurred I was in my freshman year of high school, I was running late that day, so I wasn’t too sure what was going on while watching TV. At that point they hadn’t said it was a terrorist attack, but as soon as I got to my French class everyone was talking about it. The school did not allow the classrooms to show the news, so students wouldn’t freak out, but I really wish they would have. Everyone was speculating about what they heard on the news & what they said on the radio. Hearing what everyone had seen and heard was so surreal. It was all finally confirmed when I got home and turned on the news.

Elizabeth Ferreira: I was in LIC, NY. I went to a deli to pick up breakfast.  A police officer in the store received a call on his radio about the first plane crash.  We ran outside & saw the tower burning.  The building where I worked was right near the river so we were able to see everything….the second plane crashing, the towers falling, we were all in shock and crying, and felt helpless.

Guillermo Ceniceros: I took a call from my mom calling from Mexico city, she said put the TV on look at what is happening.  I was at home in Costa Mesa with my wife Kristi.

Karen Treydte: I was with Telemundo (crew of about 20 people) and two novela actors, Manolo Cardona and Paola Rey.. producing a traveling road show for one of my clients at the time, Toyota.  We were in San Antonio, and I got a call in my hotel room from the producer (who was from NYC) that one of the towers had been hit by a plane…the entire cast and crew came downstairs to the hotel lobby and watched the rest of the tragedy unfold.

Susie Gonzalez: I will never forget the morning of 9/11 when I turned on the radio to hear what I thought was a prank from the local station in McKinney, Texas. I clearly remember a lady crying and screaming over the airwaves as she described the first plane crashing into the Twin Towers. I called my family in California, most of them unaware of the news since they were still asleep. My emotions escalated from sadness to anger once the media confirmed this wasn’t an accident, we were being attacked. Along with three co-workers, I watched the news in silence for the next several hours. As horrifying as the YouTube videos were, we cried as we watched them in disbelief over and over again. Replaying 9/11 in my head, and watching footage of it, will always bring tears to my eyes.

Elias Weinstock: I was preparing my kids’ lunch for school. First I heard was on the radio; they thought there had been an accident, a plane crash against the towers.

Enrily Levy: This one hits personally because I was on board an American Airlines flight to San Francisco when I heard the news. I was the west coast CFO for another ad agency at the time and was commuting to San Francisco once a week.  I would take the 6:30 am flight on Tuesday, get into the SF office before 8:30am.  I would return to Los Angeles on Wednesday night.  This was my routine for the past year. That day the FAA shut all airports down before my flight was to take off.  We had no information of what was going on and all passengers we’re told to disembark the plane.  Heard the news from the televisions screens throughout the airport.  Everyone was just standing there mesmerized seeing the footage of the first plane hitting the world trade center…

Greta Toscas: I was out jogging around 7AM and when I came home Bob was watching the news and the first airplane had just crashed in the WTC. We both were looking in disbelief thinking what a terrible accident it was, and wondering how could a commercial airplane be flying so low and close to these buildings to have crashed against one. We thought a mechanical problem for sure. When the second airplane hit the second tower we immediately knew none of them was an accident. The phone did not ring in our house and we did not call anyone or thought of asking anyone else how this had impacted them. However if that had happened today I’m certain that all our phones would have been inundated with tweets, texts and facebook posts. Certainly communication is now instant and everyone knows everything the minute it is happening. Back in 1999 we only had email but no open access to the internet. We follow the news reports throughout that terrible day by watching a 22” TV, set up at the reception area in the old Casanova Pendrill office in Irvine. Our news feed came via NBC The Today Show and ABC Good Morning America which broadcasted nonstop for three days.

Danielle Kehoe: When 9/11 happened, I was getting ready for work when my nephew called and told me to turn on the TV. When I did, I saw a plane crashing through one of the towers. At first I thought they were replaying what had happened, but as soon as the newscaster’s voice changed and she had announced it was live and that was the second…I sat down on the couch for hours.  You always think something like this would never happen here…not in America. So much has changed for all, something I took away from this was to live each day like it’s the last – we take so much for granted.

Tasha Day: I was in college – walking across campus and an announcement of the incident was made over the loudspeaker campus wide and all the on-campus TV’s were programmed to air news coverage

Jackie Checho: It was my first week of high school and I didn’t even know until I got to school and some girl screamed “we’re under attack!”. I ended up watching coverage throughout every class.

Teresa Gonzalez: Clicked on Good Day LA around 7am and viewed the footage of the 2nd airplane crashing into the Tower.  It was a dreadful sight!

Evelyn Melloni: My brother called me into the living room to watch the news on what they thought was an accident. Then, the second plane hit.

Norma Fernandez: The TV awoke me at 6:30am to the shocking images of both WTC Towers on fire.  As I learned more about the horrific terrorist acts, I was scared, sad, and angry.  I knew life as we knew it in America had changed forever.

Michelle Bregozzo: I had started my freshman year of high school two weeks earlier and my parents had the news on TV as I was walking downstairs to leave.  I watched it for a minute, but didn’t totally comprehend the severity of what was happening.  I remember telling my friend’s dad about it in our carpool, but he hadn’t heard about it yet and kind of thought I was crazy.  We spent the whole day of school just watching the news in shock.

Dennis Demori: I was at home in my apartment in Boston, sitting on the couch while the cable guy was fixing my TV. The TV was on while we saw the smoke coming out of the Twin Towers on a local news station.

Diego Cantú: Wicker Park. Chicago, IL 9/11/2001 7:45 am CST. Shaving. Whistling. Happy. Beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. The wife in the kitchen making coffee and watching the news, 7 months pregnant with my first child. I’m upstairs in our bathroom. I stop whistling. Silence. Then I hear something breaking. Two seconds later, a scream: “Diego, turn on the news now!!!” Anxiety on her voice. With half my face still filled with shaving cream I turn on the news. One of the twin towers in flames. Newscasters report that a plane has crashed into tower 1 of the World Trade Center. I remember thinking: “What a freak accident, how could this happen?” Two seconds later, in real time, the cameras from Headline news capture the second plane crashing ontotower 2. My blood pressure drops. I run downstairs. My wife stares at the little TV in shock. Grabs her belly. I look at her and say: “Sweetheart, from this day forward, America will never be the same again.” She looks at me, then down at her belly. A sense of dread fills us both.

Pavel Escobedo: There was a strong storm that cancelled my classes that day in my last year of college. I came down and the news were on, I remember when the first plane collided, the TV never went off all day. That night I was in fear.

Roxane Garzon: It was 6am Pacific Time and I was getting ready to leave for Dallas.  I received a call from my boyfriend at the time who said he didn’t think I was going anywhere and to turn on the TV.  I turned it on in time to see the towers fall.  It was the most shocking thing I’d ever seen!

Ingrid Otero- Smart: 9/11/11: I woke up at 5:30AM to get ready for work and get Jordan ready for school. I turned on the radio and heard the first news so I went into the bedroom and turned the TV on. I was confronted with the first pictures and while I was watching, saw live the images of the second plane hit the towers. I called Jordan’s school (he was in kindergarten) and was told they were advising parents to bring the children to school to keep things as normal as possible. It was hard to turn away from TV, but helped to make sure my 5 years old would think everything was normal. I still have the invitation to an event I was supposed to attend on 9/18/11, at Windows On the World at the World Trade Center. A reminder that life is short and you never know when it is (or is not) your time to go…

Karla Acevedo: Estaba dormida, acababa de regresar de US el día anterior y mi mamá me despertó en shock! salimos corriendo a ver la tele sin poder realmente entender nada de lo que veíamos…

Theresa Chaverot: I was in Paris, working at TBWA; we were pitching the global ATT account and were about to get on a conference call with TBWA New York who were leading the pitch.  Someone came to the conference room and said, “don’t bother calling NY, there has been an accident, a plane crashed into one of the twin towers” we all crowded the VP of creative’s office and we saw  the moment a plane hit the second twin  tower; we then knew it was no “accident”. It was not the United States, but every French media outlet- ( be it TV, radio, internet) were covering nothing else. The person that ran into our conference room, found out through the internet.

Pilar Matallana: So true – 10 years… Soooo different – Now I don’t even own a TV! Woke up. Turned  TV on and went to get coffee started. From the corner of my eye I caught site of the building smoking… And was not really sure what I was seeing. As I sat down, an viewed the loop of the crash then in disbelief the 2nd crash. It was hard to get away from the TV — just didn’t want to miss anything.

Ricardo Rivera: I was walking towards the 5 train on a East 103rd Street when I saw the smoke in the distance and heard a few Latinos of El Barrio say that a plane crashed into one of the towers, got in the Subway thinking it was a small plane and when I got off as usual on Grand Central Station, found the Chrysler Building-subway pathway tunnel that I took everyday was closed, so I went outside, that’s when I saw people desperate running around and saw about a hundred people gathered around a pick up truck with the doors opened listening to the news, that’s when I found out that a second plane hit the 2nd towers. Walked to The Vidal Partnership and found everyone gathered in the large conference room watching CNN while we could still see the towers on the distance. I went to my desk to try contact my family with no luck, that’s when every body screamed at the office, the 1st tower was down. Saw the second tower fall in the news, and we no longer could see the building out of the windows.

Esthela Alarcon: To think I ended up going to work that day! I was getting dressed while watching the news.  Was it a fire? A bomb? Then, I witnessed the second attack “live”. I gasped. Tried to make sense of the horror. Couldn’t.

Kathryn Irwin: I had fallen asleep with the TV on the night before and woke up to the news as the second plane hit. I was glued to the TV the rest of the day.

David Martinez: On the commute to work on the good old fashion Radio, not satellite radio, it wasn’t around.

Flor Castaneda: I was in my room in my robe on the edge of my bed watching the news getting ready to go to work when I saw the second plane crash into the WTC.

Rolando Rodriguez: I had just returned home from visiting my brother the night before.  I had been on military duty the week befor on the east coast in Philadelphia.  I got up to move my car from the driveway around 7:30 Central time, to let my neighbor out and I started listening to the news on the radio.  That’s when I heard the initial report that our country may be under attack.  As my neighbor left, I rushed back inside the house and turned on the TV and put the news on.  I hadn’t had the news on very long when I saw live the second plane hitting the second tower.  I notified my unit; we were put on alert, and told to stand by.  My bags were still packed so I kept everything handy.  I stayed by the phone and watched the events as they unfolded the rest of the day.  I was hoping and praying that everything would turn out ok then the worse happened the towers collapsed first one then a while later the other….

Sara Albiach: My clock radio woke me up on 9/11 with news that an airplane had crashed into one of NY’s twin towers.  I thought of a small single engine plane, perhaps flown by an inexperienced pilot who had a problem while enjoying the views of lower Manhattan.  When the radio announcer confirmed it was an airliner, I knew this was no accident.  I was used to flying to New York regularly.  Airliners on final approach to JFK or La Guardia, or on take off, were never close enough to lower Manhattan to crash there.  Even if something went terribly wrong mechanically, any pilot would do everything in his/her power to crash land in the water.  Like the rest of America, I spent much of the day glued to the television and often in tears.

Cindy Lara: On 9/11 @ 8a I was at a friends in Boston packing up to head out to the airport. I got a call from my friend to turn on the TV & to call my folks to tell them I will not be coming home just yet.

Melanie Cyr: September 11^th started out like any regular work day.  Had one child at the time so it was get her ready for pre-school and then me get ready for work.. My husband had just returned a day before from Indonesia and he was dealing with the jet lag.  As I do every morning I turned on the Today Show and at that moment Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were reporting the news of a “plane crashing” into one of the Twin Towers.   It was not until  the visual of a second plane crashing into the towers did I realize America was under attack..  I became so emotional, screaming, crying in disbelief with the site of the city I grew up in, the towers that my godfather helped construct were crumbling  right before my eyes .   My screams woke my husband up and upset my daughter.  We were just numb looking at the TV  as the report of United flight 93’s crashing came in.. I tried to reach my dad and my brother who both live and work in the city, but no luck as the lines were overloaded. Ingrid and I were working together at the time at another Agency and we managed to get to work, but who could work as we were all glued to TV’s trying to get a sense of what had just happened to our country.  I  think for the next month or so, our television was constantly on CNN watching the continual reporting from ground zero. We just could not get enough.  When I go back to New York I am always saddened by how different the city Skyline looks without the Twin Towers on the horizon.  But not having the Towers for me is a very strong reminder that we can never forget.

Rodrigo Lino: Inside of a green bug taxi at Mexico City. The taxi driver was anxious for a passenger to talk about what he was listening at the radio.

Ismael Leon: I was just about to leave my parents’ house for my Political Science class. My mom was crying in front of the TV. As I stood next to her, it was a moment of disbelief for me.

Maribel Lackey: I turned the morning news on as I was getting ready for work and thought it was a preview for a new Michael Bay movie. Wish it had been.

Florence Rodriguez: I was very pregnant sleeping when my dad came running to my room telling me to come watch the news quickly. We were in Japan living in a military base. What I saw on CNN that night was horrifying. I still get chills thinking about it. All the bases were on locked down and tight security everywhere. Gave birth 6 days later and husband had to go out on deployment 3 days after giving birth for 6 whole months! He stayed a month then had to go out again for another 6 months! I have so much respect for all the sacrifices our military family make each day.

Ramón Valadez: I was living at home.  I had woken up and sat on my parent’s bed watching what my mom had said had been a plane accident in New York.  After the second plane crash I remember yelling to my family “we’re under attack”.  In the living room we stood watching the towers fall.  I went to work, like everyone else in the agency did.  We didn’t know what we were supposed to do.  Do you show up to work if the country is under attack?  Paul Casanova sent an email that was misinterpreted by the entire agency.  His email said something like “treat this as a distraction”.  People thought he meant “treat these events as a distraction, now get back to work”.  What I later found out, years later, was that he meant “treat work as a distraction from these events.”  I went home early that day.  Not out of fear.  But out of confusion.

What is not widely known is our contribution in science and technology. Don’t believe me?

I was traveling for business in New York. Arrived late at night. Went to bed.

Woke up and went down to the little bar in the lobby to get some coffee.

In the line before me, a lady in a business suit was deciding what to have for breakfast.

“You have bagels?”

“Chess,” said a very helpful Hispanic woman from behind the counter.

“What kind?”

“I have plain, sesame, and cinnamon and chugar”

“Oh, I’ll have one of those”…

“Cinnamon and Chugar?”

“Yes, thank you.”

The nice Hispanic clerk, very hygienically, grabbed a piece of wax paper and with it wrapped her hand around the bagel. Then she handed the bagel to the business lady, who before grabbing it, paused like she was expecting something more.

The nice Hispanic lady, very perceptive, noticed a frown in the business lady’s face and immediately added (pointing at the bagel):  “It’s self toastin”

The business lady just looked at her…

“It’s self –toastin” she repeated

“What is?” inquired the business lady…

“The bagel, it’s self-toastin.”

The business lady looked at her, then at the bagel, then at me, then at the bagel again.

Then something must be wrong, she might have thought. Maybe the batteries are dead or something, or maybe I have to squeeze for it to start.

She looked at the Hispanic lady again, then at the bagel again then at me again.

“What she means is that you yourself have to toast the bagel, there’s the toaster,” I told her. She relaxed, she smiled. She thanked me and walked towards the toaster.

To me it was always clear. I took out my wallet and asked for a cinnamon and chugar bagel. No tosted, but with lots of creem cheese and yam.

So yes, I’m getting too old for lots of things, but I’m not too old for words, for a pair of comfy jeans and old T-shirts, I’m not too old for wine in a paper cup and cheap generic cigarettes. I’m not too old for Peter Pan and not too old to quote Haulden Caulfield. I’m not too old to lay on my bed all day trying to come up with a fantasy story to tell my children. I’m not too old to read books under my covers with a flashlight, not too old to stare at the glow of the stars laying on the hood of my car.

I’m not too old to ride around with the windows down and Simon & Garfunkel turned up to eleven, because this is the volume Simon & Garfunkel should always be played at. I’m not too old to jump on my bed and refuse to wash my face. I’m not too old to run around bare foot with a smile stuck on my face even if times are hard.

I’m not too old to make mistakes, to write poetry on the backseat of a bus, to exchange a thousand awkward words with people I’ve never met, to do things I have never done on my own before, to fail miserably time over time and to never, never, never give up…

I’m not too old.