I Will Remember!

I Will Remember!

Jim Hinshaw
Contributing Writer
Improvement Professional, President & Sales

I can remember it clearly, I was setting up a training room in St. Louis for Tom Ginnever, the Trane district manager, on Sept 11, 2001.  It was about 7:15 local time, Tom and I were setting out workbooks, pens, notepads, the usual stuff.  His office admin ran in, said: turn on the TV!

We did, and our lives changed that morning.  We watched video of the first tower burning, not sure what we were seeing.  I even mentioned that it may be another Hollywood movie, Arnold is going to be a hero.  Then we saw the second tower hit and it became clear, this was no movie, we were under attack.

Tom and I talked about cancelling the session.  We agreed not to, but to be clear at the start, if anyone did not want to stay, we would give a full refund.  One person who had a brother in the towers decided to leave, everyone else stayed.  We shared sales concepts and several times that day went back to the TV to get up to speed on what was happening in New York.  We realized this was bigger than we had imagined.

My wife and I grew up in Missouri, I lived in St. Louis, she was from Belle, about 100 miles west.  She was flying in from Phx to join me in St. Louis later on that day.  I started calling to tell her not to come, could not get through on the phones, it was a frustrating time.  Turned out she could not get on the plane after all, they were all grounded.  I spent three days in St. Louis, more than I had planned on.  Every morning I called the airport to see if we were flying again, got a recording telling me call back later, no planes leaving yet.  On the third day the recording told me to head to Lambert St. Louis airport, the flights were cleared to takeoff.

I will never forget getting into the airport shuttle, coming around the east end of the airport and seeing about 20 planes on the tarmac, but none of them taking off.  I was depressed, thinking we had been hit again.  Then, as I watched in amazement, a National Guard F-16 went vertical and opened up the airport.  That memory still gets me today.

The airport was jammed up, if you had a flight that was grounded on the 11th, you lined up inside the airport.  There were people from Europe who had landed in St. Louis when all planes were grounded.  Later flights were lined up outside all around the building.  In a few hours we were headed in, long lines and police with m-16s all around us.  Got home late that evening, to a different world.

A couple of years later I had a chance to go to New York, drove into the city to see ground zero.  Bought a hot dog from a vendor on the street nearby.  I asked him how life had changed since the towers came down.  He said people looked at each other, paid attention to each other, now they realized life can change in an instant.  I tipped him a significant amount, thanked him for the conversation.  Walked around the neighborhood, came back a couple of hours later, asked for another dog.  He bought me one, said returning visitors were free!  It was another moment.

So here we are, 14 years later.  Life has changed for all, especially those who travel for a living like I do.  Just got a random check (I am Pre-Checked, don’t stand in the long lines), so I had the full inspection.  Took my bag apart, pulled out all my electrical stuff, swiped every cord, battery pack, etc.  Took me into a room, patted me down.  The TSA guys were cool, told me about each step in the process.  I told them it was not a problem to me, they had a job to do, and in my case were completely professional.  Used to get to the airport 30 minutes before the flight left, run up to gate, got on and had no problems.  Will not do that today.  Life has changed.

So today, look around you and realize that life can change in an instant.  Some of the most emotional stories we hear from that day were calls that ended up on answering machines where one person tells another they love them, but could not deliver that message in person.  Tell your loved ones today how much they mean, don’t wait till the next tragedy strikes.  Embrace the way the world is changing, don’t sweat the small stuff, and if you run into a policeman, military or fireman today, thank them for doing their job.  If I have a bad day, I get yelled at.  When they have a bad day, buildings are burning or bullets are flying.  In fact, if you want to really create change, thank the person who waits on you at the coffee shop, the dry cleaners, everyone doing those jobs we take for granted, thank them for helping you.  Who knows, they may just buy you a hot dog!  You can make a difference in one life today, in a positive way.

 

Jim has worked in the hvac industry for decades.  He ran the Trane office in Phx for years, became president of a large mechanical contractor, bought a small residential contractor, and joined a friend
as VP of sales for a large residential service and replacement contractor in Phx.

In 1999 he started his own hvac consulting business, branching out to the solar industry from 2005-2011.  In 2011 he joined the Everrest team as Western division manager, helping dealers and distributors improve sales and profits.  He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he gets to see his genius grandson on a regular basis.  Life is good!