September 11th

JCbride2015 · September 2014

Yeah guys, sorry to be a downer. But my Facebook feed is already starting to blow up and I have some thoughts.

Without fully reliving the "where were you" moment because that kind of talk just makes me sad, at the time I lived close enough to NYC that many people in my community lost loved ones, but not actually in NYC. As a teenager just starting to become more aware of the world, 9/11 was a very defining event in my life.

I now live in Jersey City and commute through WTC on a daily basis. During rush hour it's just all businesspeople, but in off hours I'm frequently annoyed by the activity there. Mostly because of the street vendors who hawk all kinds of wares capitalizing on the loss that day. Huge glossy photos of the burning buildings, pictures of the rubble, etc. It's very tasteless and offensive IMO. I also get irrationally bothered by the hordes of European tourists. To me, WTC is not a tourist destination. It's hard to pin down-- it's a place for reflection and paying respects, yes. Not gawking and taking selfies. And at this point, it's also a place for moving on. One World Trade is up and it's beautiful. The skyline is starting to heal. I just feel like with these jerks always selling exploitative materials, and so many tourists, downtown is always going to be stuck in September 2001 in some ways.

Do you do anything in particular to recognize 9/11? What do you think of the yearly memorials-- does your Facebook get flooded too, or is this only a New York thing?

ETA: After discussing for a bit, I realized both the discussion and my own framing of the issue are more focused on the societal effects of the attacks and not necessarily on the individual loss of life. Because I know at least one person around these parts who lost a close family member, I want to point out that I'm aware the magnitude of the event for the rest of us just can't compare. Sometimes I think (for me, too) the individual lives get sort of lost in the larger picture. On 9/11 I reflect not only on the many geopolitical changes since that day, but also on the loss of life and continued pain of the families.

falsara · September 2014

My FB blows up way differently than other people's, I'm a military kid my dad getting sent to Afghanistan in 2004 has a direct correlation to 9/11.

The day that happened they locked down all the schools in the town surrounding the base my dad worked on. It was a very real fear that when I got up the next morning my dad , who flew in helicopters and worked on bombs, could be gone to this weird place and he could die.

Most of the people on my FB friends list are either in the military, retired military or military kids. I see everyday, when someone posts about getting sent on another tour to the middle east, the kind of impact that is has had on our countr.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

@cwradford I can't imagine that kind of constant fear. I'm glad your dad is okay.

southernbelle0915 · September 2014

We had a moment of silence at school the year after the attack. I've been doing that on my own since.

bwy · September 2014

Speaking as somebody from Missouri, Yes, my FB feed gets full of it. I was 6 when it happened and I was really little so I didn't really understand what was happening when it happened, other than a lot of people died. I like the memorials for the most part, until they get anti- somebody else's religion.

falsara · September 2014

JCbride2015 said:
@cwradford I can't imagine that kind of constant fear. I'm glad your dad is okay.

Thanks. I'm glad he is too. In fact im very lucky that with as many people as I know that still serve actively, all of them have come home safely. One of the guys I went to HS with wasn't so lucky, in fact a lot of people aren't.

jdluvr06 · September 2014

I don't remember where I was, but I remember when I first heard what happened I was terrified. At the time my mom's uncle worked at the Pentagon and no one could get ahold of him. Turns out he was in Washington that day so he was alright.

We don't really do anything specific but I always light a candle for some family friends we lost in the Pentagon. Sometimes I wish more people would acknowledge that people outside of the WTC were lost. Everyone always focuses on the WTC, which don't get me wrong they should be focused on, but people forget about those lost in the third and fourth planes and in the Pentagon.

Edited because I've had too much wine and forgot the number of planes

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

I feel old. I was 22 when it happened. I live in a Texas and am already seeing my FB flood with "Never Forget" and patriotic images. The neighborhood where I grew up puts flags in the lawns of all the houses for patriotic "holidays" and I'm sure they are already up. I always thought that was a classy thing to do. I definitely agree with you, @JCbride2015‌. There's so much commercialization of it where it feels like people are trying to just make a profit off of it.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

jdluvr06 said:

I don't remember where I was, but I remember when I first heard what happened I was terrified. At the time my mom's uncle worked at the Pentagon and no one could get ahold of him. Turns out he was in Washington that day so he was alright.

We don't really do anything specific but I always light a candle for some family friends we lost in the Pentagon. Sometimes I wish more people would acknowledge that people outside of the WTC were lost. Everyone always focuses on the WTC, which don't get me wrong they should be focused on, but people forget about those lost in the second and third planes and in the Pentagon.

Yes, I agree and am also guilty of this.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

@jdluvr06, I agree about the Pentagon. My uncle used to live in an apartment very close to the Pentagon, and I was terrified for him when I heard about the plane crashing there.

theartistformerlyknownas · September 2014

My grandpa died in the midst of all the chaos. No, nowhere near NY, PA or VA. He was admitted to a hospital in a town nearby in MI with a very high Arabic population (highest outside of the Middle East) and tensions were really high with all the gut-instinct accusations being thrown around. There were rumblings of bomb threats being called into the hospital, and my mom knew they were about to lock it down. My grandpa told told my mom and her sisters to go home and be with their families because everyone was so worried about what might happen next, and the phone lines were jammed. They said "no, as long as you're here, we'll be here with you." He looked my mom square in the eye, said "ok then" and died. Just like that. Stubborn ol' bird had been on death's doorstep for 20 years but went out on his own terms to try and get his kids to do what he thought they should do.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

@lolo883, that's a poignant story about your grandfather. That sounds like something my grandpa would have done

pinkcow13 · September 2014

As a New Yorker, my page gets flooded. Not only from New Yorkers, but people across the country and even internationally- like family that wasn't and isn't in the US. I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I lived in this same apartment back then, back when my parents lived here, so it definitely brings back memories, and old feelings. I was 17 at the time and I remember bring so scared right after. Walking down the streets of Manhattan was eerie around that time. I didn't lose anyone on 9/11 but. FI lost. His Godfather. I don't do anything major, I think I just reflect . I'm always aware of when it happened, in terms of the hour and minutes, and it brings me back to that day. It's weird. I tend to read the news coverage. I have not been to the memorial. I jog all the way down towards One World Trade and it really is beautiful, but I still have not been there yet. Crazy, after all these years. We drive by it all the time but have never actually been to it yet. I heard about all the tourists and vendors and it really is disgusting. My coworker went for the first time with her husband last year, and she was so disgusted. She said there were teenagers taking selfies, grown tourists taking tourist pics and selfies, people laughing and joking as if they were at Times Square, and not a memorial. I didn't even know they were selling this crap down there. I think it's good to remember and not forget, but sometimes some of the things people post are too much. I have a cousin who was not even anywhere near here at the time who last year posted a picture of the burning towers as her "memorial" and I just found it to be very inappropriate. Sorry- paragraphs again

lc07 · September 2014

I was a sophomore in college. I lived on the east coast at the time and I knew many people who were in that area on that day from my boyfriend who had to walk out of the city covered in ash and smoke, other friends living and working nearby, to a friend who should have been at work above the "line" where the first plane hit the first building but called in sick to work that day, to my best friend's father who worked ground zero. It was a day I will never forget. I am lucky that no one I know and none of my friends lost anyone that day.

I live in CA now. My FB feed will be full regardless. I still have lots of east coast friends on my feed. But many of my CA friends are east coast transplants. I have two friends I know for a fact who sign off on 9/11 and just check out of social media because they can't relive the events since they were there. I don't blame them. It's not as traumatic for me since I was able to get ahold of my boyfriend within the hour and knew he was okay before the phone lines jammed.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

As a person of faith, I found it very interesting how flooded the churches were the Sunday after 9/11. I actually vividly remember that my church (at the time) had a prayer serviced during lunchtime on the Friday of that week. At that time, I worked for a company in the Top 10 of the Fortune 500, where we were often lectured about keeping religion out of the workplace. I walked the floor of my office and invited people to join me at the lunchtime service, especially since the church was less than a mile from our office. Nobody was offended, and several people joined me (none of them were Catholic).

I think that's something people have almost forgotten about the aftermath of 9/11 - the compassion and unity that people demonstrated on the wake of that tragedy.

jdluvr06 · September 2014

I do think it is disgusting that people are selling things. I swear no one has any respect.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

jdluvr06 said:

I do think it is disgusting that people are selling things. I swear no one has any respect.

This is the worst for me. People lost loved ones that day. Parents, children, siblings. This is an occasion to be mournful and respectful. Not to seek profit.

luckya23 · September 2014

jdluvr06 said:
I do think it is disgusting that people are selling things. I swear no one has any respect.

They're very pushy about it too!

luckya23 · September 2014

To answer your question I don't do anything in memory. I don't even repost nonsense on fb. I live in NY though so I'm sure I will see plenty.

afox007 · September 2014

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who wasn't born.

Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage.

My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened.

Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

ETF FSS'a age. His bday is August I assumed he was posting cuz this had so much effect on 2 weeks old him. Nope just realized he was born a few years later.

missdelilah · September 2014

My FB blows up this time every year. It's not a NYC dependent thing, or even an American thing.

I really hate people who make money off tragedy; unless said tragedy is so long passed that it no longer affects people who had to endure it - like, say, the Civil War.

My cousin recently visited the museum at the WTC. She was only 10 when it happened, and I think she wanted some perspective. She said it was very interesting, and she was really appreciative of so many different view points being presented there. That said, she also did not take any selfies.

September 11, 2001, which was actually the 12th of September, 2001, for those of us in Australia, was just so surreal. We were all in high school, and it was just so difficult to imagine that what we were seeing was real. Compound this with me walking down stairs to find Dad (who had recently retired from position as editor in chief of a major newspaper) completely haggard looking, staring at the tv. I asked him what was wrong (I was in super paranoid mode as my mum had passed away two months earlier - it wasn't unexpected, she had ALS, but it all happened faster than the doctors had lead us to believe) and he just pointed at the TV. I think it took me three minutes to realize that he didn't have insomnia and wasn't watching a movie. Perhaps it was the real news network logo, or the almost gratuitously replayed footage of the plane striking the second building, who knows. I was so devastated. I didn't know anyone who was personally affected, but there was a period of trying to get hold of people to check up. I did know what it was like to lose someone you loved with all your heart, and couldn't image how terrible it would be to lose them because some... actually, there is not yet a word in the English language to describe these people, so let's be polite and call them "spawn of Satan's arsehole" thought that the most effective way of getting what they wanted was to kill thousands of people who had nothing at all to do with US foreign policy.

Honestly, I did vomit a little when I worked out what was going on.

theartistformerlyknownas · September 2014

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old. Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage. My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened. Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

lolo883 said:

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old. Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage. My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened. Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

Child, please. I was 22

JCbride2015 · September 2014

lolo883 said:

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old. Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage. My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened. Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

Actually yeah, I guess it's the talk about FSS but I was picturing you more mid-twenties to early-thirties. I was about to turn 14 on 9/11. Freshman in high school.

Also Lolo I don't really think of you as older than me. But come to think of it, most posters on here are just generically "somewhere around my age" until I figure out otherwise.

It's interesting how the age on 9/11 really affected our experience of it. I was old enough to understand what was going on, but young enough that I still had a lot of irrational fears.

jdluvr06 · September 2014

JCbride2015 said:

lolo883 said:

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old. Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage. My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened. Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

Actually yeah, I guess it's the talk about FSS but I was picturing you more mid-twenties to early-thirties. I was about to turn 14 on 9/11. Freshman in high school.

Also Lolo I don't really think of you as older than me. But come to think of it, most posters on here are just generically "somewhere around my age" until I figure out otherwise.

It's interesting how the age on 9/11 really affected our experience of it. I was old enough to understand what was going on, but young enough that I still had a lot of irrational fears.

@afox007‌ I thought you were a little older than that. You're younger than I am. I was 14 on 9/11.

Edited because I unintentionally lied about my age.

theartistformerlyknownas · September 2014

JCbride2015 said:

lolo883 said:

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old. Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage. My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened. Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

Actually yeah, I guess it's the talk about FSS but I was picturing you more mid-twenties to early-thirties. I was about to turn 14 on 9/11. Freshman in high school.

Also Lolo I don't really think of you as older than me. But come to think of it, most posters on here are just generically "somewhere around my age" until I figure out otherwise.

It's interesting how the age on 9/11 really affected our experience of it. I was old enough to understand what was going on, but young enough that I still had a lot of irrational fears.

So you're telling me it's almost your birthday... noted.

Also... I don't even think of me as being as old as I am. :-/ The last few years kind of got away from me!

And to not totally derail a serious thread but actually answer the question you asked in the first place... my thread tends to blow up with remembrances too. But I think it's more a matter of "keeping up with the Joneses" where one person starts it, a few other people glom on, and then nobody wants to be the asshole not saying anything about it. So I just have my own remembrance of my grandpa and say my own prayer and try to stay out of the FB fray.

lc07 · September 2014

I was 19 and in my second year of college and you guys were barely teenagers. Our age gap seems huge in that context. But it's not now. Life is interesting like that.

lc07 · September 2014

I do get pissed remembering all the crazy backlash afterwards. My ex boyfriend was of Syrian and Lebanese descent but he was born here in America. His mom's tires were slashed, and someone put some fucked up shit in his cousin's burger at a local burger joint. It was a pretty scary time for them.

afox007 · September 2014

JCbride2015 said:

lolo883 said:

afox007 said:

My Facebook already has a few things, including one from FSS who was about. 2 weeks old.

Kind of a weirdo on 9/11; it was the first huge memorable anything that happened to me and I was watching spongebob with my 2 best friends before school when nickelodeon interrupted it with the news coverage.

My friends mom was traveling to NY on business that morning, but we didn't know the flight (we were 11) we freaked out thinking the worst. Luckily she was on a totally different flight that never departed because of what happened.

Every year since I find myself watching old reruns of spongebob. The first few years it was weird kid logic, watching it without a news interruption reassured that everything was ok. After a few years it just became tradition.

I didn't realize you were so much younger than me! I was a freshman in college.

Actually yeah, I guess it's the talk about FSS but I was picturing you more mid-twenties to early-thirties. I was about to turn 14 on 9/11. Freshman in high school.

Also Lolo I don't really think of you as older than me. But come to think of it, most posters on here are just generically "somewhere around my age" until I figure out otherwise.

It's interesting how the age on 9/11 really affected our experience of it. I was old enough to understand what was going on, but young enough that I still had a lot of irrational fears.

Yup only 24. Oddly I am smack dab in between FSS and FI 13 years either way. Granted I was "raising" my siblings from the time I was 9 or so; not too much of a transition to be full time mom with FSS.

holyguacamole79 · September 2014

Shit. I just checked my Facebook and saw a picture of the plane hitting the North Tower on my newsfeed. Ugh.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

@Lolo883 Haha that wasn't my intent, but yeah. My bday is the 25th. Your grandpa looks so handsome!! He sort of reminds me of my grandpa with those glasses and the big smile. I had heard your story about him before, and he totally sounds like he was just absolutely concerned about your family's safety. That's really bittersweet.

@Ic07 Yes, funny how age differences seem huge when you're younger but become more and more meaningless as you age. For such an iconic moment, our experiences would be super different from ages 11 to 22 and beyond. But once everyone's in our mid-twenties and up, those differences matter a lot less and it's more about common life experiences.

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