I was on my over to the federal building downtown Chicago, when our receptionist stopped me saying all government buildings had been locked down. I thought she was crazy, but saw people going into the boardroom to turn the tv on.
I watched a friend as the second plane hit the second building and she said "my dad is in that building". Her father died that day. I think of her every year. That moment changed her life. She ended up leaving our firm and becoming a stay at home mom. Her mother moved out to live by her and move on with her life.
Our office asked everyone to leave before the building itself evacuated. We are on the top floor of our building which overlooks the lake and several major streets. I watched as police boats swarmed the lake, people left in droves. I walked home and by the time I got there, there were NO people on the street, it was dead.