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Do you remember where you were on 9/11?

The anniversary for 9/11 is coming up on Sunday. It will be the 10th anniversary.

Do you remember what you were doing that day?

I was an undergrad in Chemistry class - -we had a quiz that morning. I remember like it was yesterday.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on September 8, 2011 at 8:06pm

Yeah, after that happened everything has changed.

Permalink Reply by Meddlesome on September 9, 2011 at 3:17am

Was there a time before war?

"Peace is the interval between two wars" - Machiavelli

At least until something fundamental changes in human nature. - Me.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on September 8, 2011 at 11:28am

I was at work. I was a phone surveyor that year. Can't get more embarrassing than calling people up to do stupid surveys on a day like that. Luckily we were sent home early.

Permalink Reply by Susan Stanko on September 8, 2011 at 12:00pm

I was getting ready for work.

Permalink Reply by Aaron M Quantz on September 8, 2011 at 2:10pm

I was in bed when my wife (then girlfriend) woke me up to tell me that a plane hit one of the WTC towers. I was watching the news for about 10 minutes before the other plane hit. So, long story short, I was sitting in my boxer shorts on the edge of my bed, when I realized that this wasn't just some horrible plane crash, this was so much bigger.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on September 8, 2011 at 6:58pm

I was teaching high school science. The decision to send student home early was made, but because this required buses to come at an unexpected time, few students actually got home early who could not walk or take public transport. I can't forget one student, her face lit with joy, so excited to get out of school early. It struck me how not all of the students grasped what was happening.

Permalink Reply by Annie Thomas on September 8, 2011 at 7:27pm

Oh, Ruth! I can't imagine what it would have been like having high school children in your care while learning such news. I'm not surprised some were more excited about missing school... this news took a while to sink in with me. It wasn't until my husband mentioned our dear friend (who is a NYC firefighter and used to work at the station adjacent to the WTC) that I even considered to call him. It just didn't register. I felt so bad that I forgot about him. Turned out he was transferred to another station a few weeks prior, and didn't arrive at the scene until the 2nd tower collapsed. He survived, yes, but he lost so many friends and fellow firefighters. It was so difficult for him.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on September 8, 2011 at 8:42pm

Ruth -- Yes, it's apparent that she did not really understand what was happening. Maybe when she got home and actually saw it on TV that she realized the gravity of the situation.

Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on September 9, 2011 at 11:13pm

Ruth. The same thing happened in at least one elementary school when the students were sent home after JFK was murdered. They didn't grasp what had happened, they might not even have been told...just knew they were getting a day off.

Permalink Reply by Charles Schmitt on September 8, 2011 at 7:55pm

I had the day off from work so I was sleeping in that morning. All of a sudden my dad bursts into my room yelling "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!! GET UP!!!"

I LITERALLY jump out of bed, grab a bat I keep in my room and go running upstairs read to swing it over some peoples heads like there's no tomorrow only for my dad to point at the TV and say to watch it.

Permalink Reply by Meddlesome on September 9, 2011 at 3:21am

I Was in Australia, watching tv late at night. The newsreader came on and said "please stay with us, we have some important breaking news from america", I thought "youre lying, you just want me to watch some more advertisements", and turned the tv off, went to bed. Did i ever get a shock when i saw the newspaper headlines while walking to work the next day !

Permalink Reply by Gwaithmir on September 11, 2011 at 3:50pm

I had been employed as a Tool & Die Maker in an Easthampton, MA machine shop on the morning of Sept. 11th. Around mid-morning, a fellow worker who had a radio in his work area told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. From the way he described it, the incident sounded like an accident involving a small plane that had deviated from its flight path.

About half an hour later he came back to my corner to tell me that another plane had crashed into the second WTC tower. This time I went to his work area and listened to the radio coverage of the incident. By then, the station's regularly scheduled programs had been cancelled so that news coverage of the attack could continue uninterrupted. Soon afterwards, we were all told to go home so that we could follow the news on TV.

I got home around noon. Every TV station was reporting live on the situations in New York and Washington. I kept switching between news stations for the next six hours, trying to get the most detailed coverage of the afternoon's reports. All the while, I had my VCR taping continuously. By 6:00 p.m. I had had enough and switched off the TV. A great depression had come over me. A few months later I destroyed all the tapes I had recorded, deciding that they'd be too depressing to watch.