9/11 memories

[KyFeller]

I'd like to know what you all were doing when you first heard about 9/11, especially those affected personally by the tragedy.

The first view I saw was an overhead shot of New York covered in a layer of smoke around 10:15 AM (I worked late that year from 12-9 PM). I didn't know what to think about that, and then the announcer began talking about the plane. I was in shock. Thankfully my employer let us go home to our families around 1 PM and I was glued to the tv the rest of the night.

[bumper3]

I was in Sacramento California working on a project. I turned the television on at 6:30am and everything was burning by then. It turned out that I was the only person on the project that made it to Sacramento ( I flew in the day before) that week or the next week. I was stuck there for nearly 14 days before I could get a flight back to Chicago. The whole thing was horrible.

One thing I will not forget is the total apathetic attitude of the people in Northern Californa. I was driving to work, and if you did not know any better you would have thought it was a normal Tuesday. There were no reactions by anyone. It was very sad.

[pisces2473]

I was just starting my senior year of college. I went to an 830 class, afterwards (around 930) went to the records office to pick up my transcripts for my grad school applications, heard on the office radio something about a plane on fire in the World Trade Center, shrugged it off, and went to my apartment. No one I passed acted any differently than they normally would have. My roommate was about to go back to bed (she was in my 830 class) and I was like, "Dude, some planes caught on fire or something at the World Trade Center." She mumbled, "Hmm weird." We were like "Whatever" and both went back to sleep, woke up around 11 to find out what had REALLY happened. Some roommates were frantically trying to call their parents who worked in NYC, others didn't know if family members were on the planes, etc etc. I remember that day like it was yesterday, all 6 of us in our apartment, huddled around the TV all day, not doing work, just watching in disbelief. Thankfully, no one I knew lost anyone. But of course a lot of people at my school knew people who died.

[RedHead1420]

I was in bed. I woke up, checked my email, and a friend of mine starting IMing me frantically to turn the TV on, so I did, but I didn't really understand what was happening, so I went to class as usual. When I got there, my professor was in tears and after we all came in she said something like, "There are times when what is happening in the world is much more important that what's going on in a class room. I want you all to go find a TV, sit down, and watch it, because this is what is important right now. So I went into the lobby of the hall I was in and joined about 75 other students and we sat there, almost all day, watching CNN. Pretty soon a bunch of my friends were there and we just sat and watched.

Later on we found out that an uncle of one of our good friends was a pilot on the plane that crashed in Pennslvania. He handled the whole situation with amazing dignity and respect.

A lot of students were REALLY mad that classes were still held that day. I think we had the option of not doing, but a lot of professors refused to reschedule exams and such. For those of you who were in college at that time, I'd be intersted to know how your school handled it.

[coll214]

I had been working at my current job for maybe a month. There's a few people in the room i'm in (it's basically a large room w/ a bunch of cubicles surrounded by offices) that always have radios on....I was at my desk for maybe 5 mins. when someone came out to say a plane hit one of the towers. Everyone thought it was awful, but kept doing their own thing; then we heard about the second one, people started turning up the radios and trying frantically to get online to find out what happened. After that, someone in the buidling found a TV to set up in the main rotunda and all day long people were coming in to watch, cry and talk. Many were trying to find out about friends and relatives; thankfully no one i know was there; some weren't as lucky. I noticed for a few days afterward that everyone seemed to be somber and more civil w/ each other (i'm in CT), but of course that didn't last very long. Those first few days i was glued to the TV, it just seemed all like a horrific nightmare.

[pisces2473]

My school didn't cancel classes--some people were really mad about that. I had had my one class of the day before anything had happened. Obviously, a lot of students didn't go to class, since they were trying to get information about family members and friends. School wasn't cancelled the next day either. A lot of professors held "teach ins" where we didn't have the real lecture, but talked about what had happened, asked questions, shared stories, etc.

I wasn't mad that classes weren't cancelled; I am glad that the profs chose to talk about the tragedy instead of focusing on the course work. Of course, those who were directly affected were excused.

[girlinterrupted]

I was at LaGuardia Aiport about to get on a 9 AM flight to Atlanta - my cell phone starts ringing like crazy, it's my mom and she's telling me not to get on the flight, that a plane just hit the World Trade Center. I am telling her not to worry, probably just some amateur pilot who lost control. Being a flight attendant at the time (but not working, just going home to plan my wedding), I ask the gate agent what was going on and if we were still taking off, he said "don't worry" not having a clue what was going on. I get on the flight and have a seat.

My mom calls me back and says a second plane hit, get off the plane and go back to your apt. It was surreal, like being in a horrible dream. They unloaded the plane (and all the planes) and there were seas of people with nowhere to go and no idea what was going on. I got in my car and starting driving east to Long Island, and I realized my car was the only one on the expressway. I spent the morning calling everyone and assuring them I was OK (remember they didn't release any information about the planes for awhile and I originally was on an earlier flight).

In my mind, I quit my job right then and there. Good thing, too, because I left November 1 with a decent severance package (which included 5 years of almost free flying) while my friends who chose to stay are now being laid off with packages worth less than mine.

Everyone please say a silent prayer today for people who lost someone that day - I passed memorials on the way to work today surrounded by sobbing people. One thing 9/11 should have taught us - remember to tell the people in your life how much they mean to you and treasure every day.

[Rainster]

I was working in Worcester, MA at the time (first job out of college). Found out by passing a lounge in the student center where people were gathered around a TV. Spent the next few hours frantically IMing, emailing, and calling friends in NYC. One of my housemates picked me up from work and we spent the next few days at another friend's apartment. One of my sisters was in Boston, supposed to leave on the 12th for her JYA in England; instead she stayed w/ me for the next week. My other sister in the midwest had 2 out of 4 housemates with immediate relatives who worked in the WTC, and my sister emailed everyone she knew to say not to call b/c those 2 had phone priority. A family friend was flying from Glasgow to visit my grandparents and had her plane turned around mid-Atlantic; she ended up visiting last Christmas instead.

Not to excuse the NorCal apathy, bumper, but to offer a different p-o-v, a lot of people on the West Coast just didn't know until they *got* to work. I called my Mom's cell phone in Seattle at around 9am PST (already afternoon on the east coast) and had to *break* the news to her. Can't believe it's been 2 years ...I can recall my exact conversations, IM texts, and footsteps...

[TankgirlyC]

I had had an 8am class. 915 I walked into my second class and someone stepped in and said a plane smashed into WTC building 1. I looked over and said where did you hear that information, sounds like a bit of bad gossip to me.
People kept walking in someone else said another plane hit. Then a messenger came to tell us our prof was trying to get ahold of his daughter no class.
This girl I knew and myself RAN to the Frosh dorms to get to a TV. I called home to see how my mom was. She told me how she dropped the phone while on with my Dad. I told her I was fine and would be going home soon and would call her to let her know I was safe.
I then called my Navy buddy. He was pissed that he was on total lock down and said he would let me know if he was deployed.

From there I went to my other classes. Our college prez said it should be business as usual. Even though the student body was pissed, and people were concerned that since its a large college we might be a target.

I then went home and watched the news until the early hours. I skipped the next day to follow more.

I knew 6 people that died that day.

NOTE: The thing I think is the saddest......1 that my college graduation was surrounded with words about the tragety....it would have been nice to have a small mention but it was more like the ceremony was about that not graduation.

Another NOTE: Since 9/11 we arent as patriotic anymore. We arent as nice to the person next to us. Its like we didnt learn. As I recall no one wanted to make political jokes, or hear about what celebrity had what plastic surgery done. And it was nice to not be superficial and care about "thy neighbor" but we reverted right back to how we were before as if we learned nothing. That saddens me.

[LakeJay]

I was running a little late for work but I was getting ready for work. I had gotten out of the shower and I had on a local channel for some reason, rather than ESPN. All of a sudden there was a newsbreak. They said a plane had flown into one of the towers. I figured it was just a Cessna or something like that. I kind of finished getting ready. I went downstairs and I had the tv on down there too and all of a sudden they said another plane flew into the other tower. That's when I started worrying. I headed into work anyways. It obviously was the only thing on the radio. I got into work and it was pretty chaotic. No one could do work. Everyone had their radios on. Some people got together and had a prayer service in one of the conference rooms. We were all scared. People were crying. From my building you could see the WTC from a higher floor. I didn't go up but some of friends actually saw the 2 tower go down. We were allowed to go home early. A majority decided to stay since traffic was unreal. In realization the whole day was a blur. I tried to call a few of my friends to see if they were okay. Everyone knows that cell phones and phone services in general just weren't in the best shape that day so I was unsuccessful in contacting them. Later, I found out my friends were alright. I heard of friends of friends who weren't so lucky. Young or old. My one co-worker had a friend who was a firefighter who lost his life because one of the people who were jumping out of the Towers out of desperation landed right on him. That always makes me wince. This was my stream of thought from the day that none of us will ever forget. God bless everyone affected from that day/event.