Where were you when the world stopped turning?

arrrghmatey

Taking a moment to remember that day fourteen years ago. Where were you when you heard the news? I remember it was my 17th birthday and my mom woke me up before my alarm even went off (our time zone was 4 hours behind the east coast), and told me to come upstairs. She had CNN on the television, and I could see the image of the two towers on fire. I remember asking her, "What movie is this?"

The events of 9/11 ultimately influenced my choice in career.

A co-worker, and friend, of mine was a first responder to The Pentagon. A couple years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which he contracted as a result of being a first responder to help other. He lost his battle to the cancer last year.

If anyone hasn't seen this tribute before, I'd encourage you to watch it. It is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhX5hHqtbYQ

ShesSoCold

I was in eighth grade gym class. They announced it over the PA but the locker room was too loud. My next class was homeroom and the teacher was this old angry history enthusiast and he was PISSED. I had no idea what was going on. After school we went to my friend's house and just watched news in silence. 

A few weeks later there was a sonic boom and I think the entire Chicagoland area shit itself at the same time. I was in my bedroom and thought for sure I was going to die.

lovemesomemonster

So very sad, I was also on the west coast so my mom woke me up for school (freshmen in high school) and told me to come downstairs where she had the TV on. I remember going to school and all of the teachers had the news on and we didn't get anything done because everyone was in shock. 

It is also my FIs birthday so it's a bitter sweet day. 

[Deleted User]

I was in college.  I went down to the cafeteria for breakfast and there was a big-screen T.V.  I saw pics of the WTT and a headline about a plane hitting the towers.  I thought it was a small plane and kind of went about my business (got my breakfast to go).

Went to class and was waiting outside the door for another to release when a girl from class asked me if I'd heard about it and started giving more details. 

I remember watching footage on and off all day and going to give blood the next day (pretty much useless as far as those people were concerned as there were so few survivors), but my college didn't cancel classes so I continued going to class as usual.

ETA:  For me, the visual I remember more than ANYTHING from the news coverage was of people jumping from the towers.  The planes and smoke and stuff I don't really remember until I see a photo of it, but I can close my eyes and see a guy jumping from one of the towers.  Awful, awful, awful memory.

littlemushroom

I was in college and was planning on skipping my 8:30 class, so I was still sleeping. A friend in that class woke me up and asked if I had seen the news. I walked across the hall to her room and saw the burning tower and heard about the plane hitting it. I turned around and asked her how she got that stuff on the TV. I was so out of it from just waking up that I thought she was playing a prank on me. My college cancelled classes that day, so we watched the news most of the day.

banana468

I was a senior in college and I had a research meeting with a professor.   At the end of the meeting he said, "This weird thing happened.   A plane crashed into the World Trade Center and then a few minutes later, another one crashed into it."   I thought he was talking about smaller turbo prop planes and then I felt like life started to move into slow motion when his co-professor ran in and yelled that a plane had just crashed into the Pentagon.   We looked at one another in horror and I got the hell out of there.    Then I remember getting into my dorm and calling my BF at the time.   I woke him up and said, "Are you awake?   Turn on the TV."  

He asked, "What channel?"

And I still remember saying, "It doesn't matter."   

And then together on the phone we watched the towers fall.   

I was an RA and spent the rest of the day in my room with the students who just watched in a daze.   Some were away from home for the first time in their lives and because UConn is a public university smack dab between NYC and Boston, everyone knew someone who knew someone affected.   

ericasm0703

I was in third grade and we were in the cafeteria for lunch when the principal made the announcement that we were going to be dismissed early. We were all really excited about it, but we were stupid kids who didn't know any better. When I got home, my parents sat us down and told us what happened and showed us the news footage. We talked about it a lot, and then my dad said he had to go because he might have to go to New York to help. A few kids in my school lost their parents when the plane hit the Pentagon. That was the day I decided that I was going to be a firefighter.

PamBeesly524

I was in 7th grade Geography class... I didn't really get it, I obviously knew it was bad but I didn't know how bad until my mom (who worked in my school) came and called me into the hallway and just hugged me really hard. She always tried to leave me alone at school and let me do my own thing so I really knew the magnitude of it then. Then when we went home from school later that day and watched the footage I just lost it.

AprilH81

I was in my third year of college and I had hit the snooze alarm multiple times to avoid going to class.  I finally dragged myself out of bed and went to my computer to look in on my internet friends on a sports forum I participated in.  Everyone was talking about what was going on so I turned on the tv.  Like many others I thought it was a small plane.

The details are a bit blurry now.  I'm not sure if I turned on the news right  before the second plane hit or if I caught a replay, but regardless I just sat there staring at the tv and didn't even bother to go to class.  I remember thinking that I had just witnessed the start of the next world war.

One of the girls down the hall was terrified because her Dad worked at the Pentagon (fortunately he was unharmed).  One of my marching band friends was in the ROTC and he ended up getting sent to Iraq after graduation and was killed by a roadside bomb in 2005.

My heart hurts for everyone affected by the events of that day, both directly and indirectly.  I can't believe it has been 14 years because it feels like yesterday in so many ways.  Things have changed so much since then.

luckya23

I was in my third year of college, and I was sleeping in. One of my roommates called me to tell me, but I think both had already collapsed.
I was in VA and my family was in NY, so I think the phones weren't working by the time I got up.

KittenMittens84

I was a sophomore in high school and in a math class when an announcement came on to turn all the tvs on. We all just sat there and watched, all day. Class bells would ring and we would change classrooms but just kept watching.

pinupbride6189

I was in seventh grade. I remember a girl in my neighborhood got on the bus and yelled "Somebody bombed the World Trade Center!" No one really had any idea what she was talking about, but when we got to school, all the TVs were on. We didn't get any work done. I remember afterwards I emailed the White House to see what I could do to help since I was just a kid and couldn't donate blood or anything. I got a canned response but nothing more.

sparklepants41

I was in college - on my way to grab Starbucks at the Student Union with my roommate before my anthropology class when we saw the news. Everything just stopped.

Throughout the day everyone was leaving their classes to check on family/friends - a few of my classmates lost family members either on one of the planes or in the towers.

ETA: What is going on with these vendor review things? They are covering all my text! Aaarrrghhh.

ETA: Never mind. They're gone. That was weird.

thisismynickname2

Freshman in college. Had just come back from the dining hall with my boyfriend and my roommate was watching TV and told us what happened. All anyone did that morning was sit around watching TV together, in more or less shock. None of us knew anyone affected; I remember feeling like an outsider looking in. It absolutely happened but it felt like watching a really bad movie. 

lyndausvi

I was in  St John.  I was getting ready for work watching the Today Show, which wasn't a show I watched very often.   I was watching live.    After the first plane hit I  my co-worker who was already at work and said "Get this shit, some plane just flew into the World Trade Center".   At that moment it was thought to have been a small plane.   Then not to long after we watched the second plane went into the other tower.    I was in complete shock.

I was working on a boat and we decided to go out for our half-day trip.   It was the worst trip ever. We were all just numb.    We cancelled the sunset sail.

The next day I was to go to Necker Island (Sir Richard Branson's island) in the BVIs.    Due to the BVI being so close to US air space, the guests who were to leave on the 12th could not.  On the 13th the were told they had to leave the island (they went to another BVI island) and me and friend arrived.   We spent the next 4 days there.   It was really surreal.

The girl I was traveling with's parents were in Europe.  It was the first vacation her father had taken in like 2-3 YEARS.    They were to fly home on the 11th after a 2 week vacation.  They ended up having to stay another  week or more.

I have a couple who I'm friends with who flew out of Boston that day to move to the islands.   It was figured out that their plane was on the tarmac at the same time as the other planes.   They ended up in Puerto Rico airport.    Since it was an obvious shit show since it was unprecedented they just hit the bar and let things settle do before they figured on how to get to the USVI. Getting to the USVI wasn't going to happen for a day or so.      By holding back and letting other people get their hotels figured out they ended getting a room at the Ritz as they were one of the last hotels to start releasing rooms.

Fast forward 2+ weeks later.  They get to the USVI, get settled and she had to return to Boston to tie up some lose ends.    When she arrives in Boston her car is the ONLY car on the top parking level.   She said it was very creepy.   She gets in the car, goes to the ticket booth and the guy notices the arrival date on the ticket.    Then he says "welcome home, it's on us, have a nice day".   Didn't charge her.

DH was in CA, but his hometown's close proximity to the city meant he knew a bunch of people who either died or were directly affected by the day.  His cousin had to walk across one of the bridges to get home.  DH had to fly home to attend some funerals.

OliveOilsMom

I was in my 3rd year of college.  I had to get up a bit early because I needed to get a flat tire patched.  When my alarm went off, the morning show was talking about a plane that hit WTC, but at first they thought it was a small prop plane.  As I laid in bed listening, they came back on and said that a 2nd plane had just hit the other tower and that the first was probably not an accident like first thought.  I got up and went to the TV.  I just watched.

I was pretty numb, so I decided to still go and get my tire fixed.  They had a TV there and I just continued to watch the news and I saw the towers fall while there.

I went back to school afterwards and decided to call my parents.  Both my parents worked 3rd shift and usually slept in till noonish.  I called them and I asked if my dad had to go to work that night.  He worked for Amtrak.  My mom had said of course and I begged her to have him call out since they were attacking anything related to the government and he could be next.  My mom said, "What are you talking about?"  And I lost it, I told her to turn on the TV, the towers were down, the Pentagon was attacked, there was a plane crash in PA, and who knows how many more planes are still in the sky.  I think she thought I was joking and said which channel.  I said any.  Silence on the phone and then she called my dad into the room.  She assured me my dad would be safe and I hung up eventually.

College was near an Air Force reserve base and most of the day we just heard jets taking off.  It was a bit unnerving each time another one was taking off.

ShesSoCold

Uhhh... you okay, OOM?

lyndausvi

something weird is going on.    Sprankle, OOM?

OliveOilsMom

That's weird, I only typed, no pictures attaching!

KittenMittens84

It's happening on other posts as well.

DarthV8r

whats up with this 5 star stuff @sparklepants41 @oliveoilsmom??

I was sleeping (on the west coast). My mom was at work watching it on t.v. when she called to wake me up. I turned on the t.v. and we were on the phone together when we watched the second plane hit. An hour later she was home and we watched the t.v. all day. My friends came over to watch with me and we all stayed in our apartment. I remember everything was closed down and no one wanted to go anywhere. We were so scared the whole united stated was under attack. We live very close  to  the  4th largest naval base in the U.S.A.  Needless to say we were on edge. 

kvruns

Sophomore in college sitting in Macroeconomics class, though I didn't know it happened at the time.  the class was almost over an I heard people in the hallway say something about a plane hitting NYC buildings and some stuff like that but I thought they were talking about a movie coming out. Went straight to another class and didn't hear anything about it. Went back to my dorm room and my roommate was there with the TV on and that's how I found out...probably 2 hours after it happened maybe. I was stunned, we sort of just sat around, called my mom though she worked at an elementary school so it was hard to get ahold of her because parents were calling even though we were presumably safe in Indiana. I think we watched cartoons and happy movies the rest of the day. I don't think I really saw the magnitude of it all for another day or so

madamerwin

I was in 11th grade. I was getting ready for school, and I walked into the living room to see what appeared to be a fire on one of the towers. I called to my mom to ask what happened, and she had actually not seen what was going on on the TV. Kept watching as the second plane hit the second tower. Then watched the first tower collapse. I wanted to stay home from school to keep watching, but my mom made me leave.

In first period English, the principal came on the loud speaker to announce the second tower had fallen. It was a very somber school day.

arrrghmatey (though sorry it falls on a day of national tragedy).

kimmiinthemitten

Some of you make me feel old, man!

I was a senior in college walking into my government class, which was taught by a Indian Muslim professor on a work visa.

I walked in and my friend was waiting for me at the door, and told me what happened, we all waited for the prof to come in, no one unpacked their bag or settled in, we all stood around waiting for him.  He showed up in the door and said "follow me."  We settled into the TV room at the Student Union just as the second plane hit.  We watched it live and most people started crying.  I can't remember if classes were cancelled or not but our group probably sat together watching TV until around noon.

I will forever be grateful that my time that day, and in the following 3 semesters were spent with this professor.  It has forever shaped the way I looked at tragedy, enemies and humanity.  I fortunately didn't know anyone directly affected, but everyone has a friend of a friend who was in NYC or DC that day. This professor had a friend in the building and a friend shot in a retaliation shooting in the following days .

kmmssg

I was at work listening to my radio like I always did.  The local CBS affiliate did a simulcast on analog so the CBS tv channel was also on the radio.  I listened to that for almost 20 years before they quit broadcasting analog.  I always exactly what Victor and Nikki were up to on the Young and Restless - listened from the Early Show til 4:30 pm everyday.

They interrupted the broadcast to say the first plane hit. My buddy in the cubicle behind me was the Education NCO and he had a small TV with a VCR built in for when he gave linguistic tests or aviation tests.  He turned it on and we watched the second plane go into the other tower.  We were absolutely speechless.  My boss just turned to us and said "we are being attacked" and we didn't even really believe him at the time.  Then the Pentagon plane and the one in Pennsylvania and we knew it was true. 

 We also knew that one of our General Officers from upstairs was at the Pentagon.

The Muslim conection came up really fast and Michigan (Dearborn Heights) has the largest Muslim community in the nation.  Of course there was a lot of jumping to conclusions going on.  My son was 6 at the time and from that day forward I took my military license plate off my car, and never ever went in to work or left work wearing my uniform.  I refused to have my son with me while I was in uniform so that if I were targeted, I would be alone.  Many of us took that course of action.

I remember DD#2 calling me about an hour after the attacks and asking what was going on.  She was 19 at the time and pretty scared.  I am trying to put my soothing mom voice on while all the superiors in the building are talking about terrorist attacks.  I would be lying if I said people in the area weren't afraid of the Muslim community in the beginning.  They were just ove ran hour away and no one knew what the hell was going on.

At a conference a few years later I was very privileged to watch a slide show of pictures taken inside the pentagon after the attack.  I will never forget everything being all burned and in shambles and this one white coffee cup sitting in the middle of the debris, unscathed.  The person presenting worked in the area and was not in the office that day.  She spoke of all of her coworkers that were killed, include the General Officer who was her boss.

Our General was incredibly lucky to have been on the opposite side of the Pentagon when the plane hit.  He said an aide grabbed his arm and ran him down several flights of stairs to an underground area for safety.

 

hellohkb

I was 7 years old and sleeping, my mom woke me up. My dad and I had just gone to the World Trade Center a month or two prior.

I feel sadness for my father on this day. He is a retired NYPD emergency service officer (pretty much their version of SWAT). He lost a lot of very close friends and went every day to volunteer. He is a very... Emotionally distant person and it was the first time I ever saw him so distraught.

Being from NY it seemed like everyone we knew lost someone. It was an unbelievable time for the next year and a half.

anjemon

I was a junior in high school and I was out in my Health class. One of my friends came in and made a really terrible joke about some plane hitting the tower. I don't remember it, just that he was joking. It must have been when they thought it was just a small plane.

I think we watched tv in all my classes through the rest of the day. We didn't get sent home, but I don't think I got any school done. It's so strange because I remember the exact moment, being in my class, which row I was in, that I hadn't sat down and unpacked my bag yet. But the rest of the day is just a blur of sadness and smoke.

I live in MN so we didn't really know anybody directly affected by the tragedy, it was kind of surreal. About 5 or 6 years later we had a local bridge collapse. So weirdly now that's my touchpoint for what it must have been like. Trying to figure out who might be where and calling my aunt who didn't know why she was stuck in a traffic deadlock. Only by like x1000. It's so hard to imagine.

sparklepants41

The 5-star stuff is happening on multiple boards - really weird and super annoying.

Heffalump

kimmiandkoley said:

Some of you make me feel old, man!

You all are making me feel super old.  I was at work--my boss was out of town at a trade show, and so it was my first time doing training sessions in his place, all by myself.  So I went into work all excited and a little nervous.  Came out of the first session, and a coworker who had just arrived was telling us he heard on the radio while he was driving that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. (I was living outside Chicago at the time, so we were an hour behind NYC, everyone was just getting into work.)  We all assumed it was an accident and were like "Wow, that's terrible, I hope everyone in the building is okay."  And then things just kept getting worse.  By the third or fourth training session, no one was even really paying attention.  I probably should have canceled, but I was young and I didn't want it to seem like I couldn't handle it or something.

We had curriculum night at DD's school last night, and her teacher mentioned that they were going to talk about it in Social Studies today.  She's only in first grade, and her teacher said she's not going into any great detail.  But she didn't want to ignore it either, and wanted us to be prepared in case the kids came home with questions, or were talking about it.  Her school posted a "Twin Towers of Heroes" where each kid wrote the name of one of their heroes on a post-it note, and they arranged them to make two towers.  One says "My uncle Tony was a firefighter and he was there" and it really got me.  (We have a lot of transplants from NY/NJ here.)

The building where DH now works was evacuated on 9/11 as a precaution/potential target, which is kind of strange to think about now.  If we had been here back then, I'm sure I would have been freaking out.  I remember it was so hard to reach anyone on cell phones because the networks were just jammed, even though we were so far away from NY or DC.

MairePoppy

I was working in a pharmacy at the time. It was a beautiful, sparkly September morning. We were rushing around to open for business because there was usually a bunch of early bird customers first thing in the morning. The pharmacist flipped on the radio as the first plane  crashed into the WTC. The cashier openned the front doors as the second plane crashed.  There were no customers, no phone calls from doctors. We stood in silent disbelief, knowing we were under attack. The pharmacist's wife called in a panick and I was asked to go to their home to rock their fussy  newborn baby so the wife, who was also a pharmacist,  could shower and dress in case she was needed at work.  I rocked  baby to sleep as I  watched the President's announcement, a tower fell,  the Pentagon crash . Picked up a spare TV for the store.. Checked on my own son, and returned back to work, just after the PA crash. All of those things happened in less than 90 minutes time, but it seemed like slow motion that morning. 

Every co-worker knew someone who lived or worked near one of the crash sites and everyone was waiting for word that their person was ok.  My brother was living in Queens, back then. He was lucky to get a call out  to mom immediately after the crash to let her know he was OK. 

ChelleJayne

I was in 7th grade. My mom came in and woke me up (I lived in Cali at the time), telling me to turn on the TV, which was unusual because TV wasn't allowed in the morning because it distracted me from getting ready. I remember sitting there watching the 2nd tower get hit and then watching them fall. School was still scheduled that day, but we didn't leave our first hour classes. We just sat and watched TV all day. Being 12 or 13 years old, we all knew that our futures were going to change hugely. For the next week, it was a daily discussion in each of my classes. We talked about what we had seen on the TV the night before and the search and recuse attempts.