It can be said that the onset of the 9/11 terrorist attack exacerbated and sped up the already declining garment sector of New York City. The garment industry had already been struggling to keep up with the competition overseas, mostly because wages in the United States are more expensive than those of foreign countries. Thus, US garment manufacturers must split their production to include both US and foreign made goods. The attack on September 11, 2001 caused devastation not only to the city, the people, and the American spirit, but it also worsened the fate of the garment industry. The attack caused a cessation of all business in the Chinatown garment sector because all of the roads leading to and coming out of the area were blocked off. The blockade of roads and bridges meant that there were no new orders coming in and so workers fought to complete those that were left over. Eventually, there were no more orders left for businesses and people lost their jobs. Of course, over time, the garment industry was able to recover, but it never saw the same success that it had in the past. Many workers had to adjust to unemployment and the search for a new job. Fortunately, there were many benefits available for displaced workers, but many complicated rules, procedures, and guidelines sometimes made it difficult for people to attain these benefits. Families struggled to make ends meet and many adults had to make the choice to either remain unemployed or retrain. Retraining entailed both an economic and time investment to get a new degree in another field. 9/11 changed the lives of people in numerous ways, both seen and unseen, and the lives of garment workers are among those that were uncommon to the public eye.