September 11th

luckya23 · September 2014

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

Defriend!

And I don't even like the weepy memorials.

Jells2dot0 · September 2014

I was a senior in college in my research and writing class. I went to college in Maryland and had interned in the DC area that summer prior for a defense company. So, I had some ties to people who were working in the Pentagon. As soon as class let out, I called some friends to make sure the guys at the Pentagon were okay. One of them is wheel chair bound, so I was especially concerned for him.

Flashforward a year. I'm now working in the Pentagon. They completed the reconstruction in August and I was able to walk through the new area soon after it opened. It was so sobering. I started to tear up. I could just feel something different about that area.

clarke10 · September 2014

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

This is disgusting.

I was 10 and in fifth grade on 9-11. It was a weekday, but I actually wasn't at school. I was out for a funeral. The biggest thing I remember about that day was the look on my aunt's face. We are in Wisconsin, but she spent many years living in NYC very close to the WTC. My mom and I were still sleeping when the planes hit and my aunt came into the room screaming for us to wake up. I was too young to really grasp the hugeness of what was happening, but I can still vividly remember the look of horror and pain on my aunt's face.

I don't participate in the Facebook frenzy. If that helps people remember it, then more power to them.

wandajune6 · September 2014

My Facebook gets flooded here in Chicago too.

I was 22 when it happened and I associate it with a possessive, terrified feeling about my family. I moved home for a few months after college to save money to move to Boston. My then-boyfriend was flying home to Boston, making a stopover in NYC that day. The early reports had me sick to my stomach that something happened to him. My dad was working in a government building downtown. It took him 4 hours to get home that day- a commute that used to take him 25 minutes.

My aunt got trapped in upstate NY for work so my mom gathered my little cousins and kept them with us. Another older cousin and my gramma didn't want to be alone. 10 people stayed at my parent's little house for the next 3 days, glued to the TV. I quit my temp job to stay with my mom who was shaken. My dad had to go into work because he was deemed critical in case of an emergency.

Before this, I'd had something pretty horrible happen to me that shook me to the core. This wasn't the first time I'd been truly scared but I'd always known that I could handle anything that happened to me. This was the first time that I was scared that something could happen to the people I loved. It was an eye-opening event to me.

While I didn't lose anyone close to me, a good friend lost her parents and my uncle lost countless friends.

ashley8918 · September 2014

alucky23 said:

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

Defriend!
And I don't even like the weepy memorials.

Way ahead of you.

This is so disgusting.

climbingsingle · September 2014

ashley8918 said:

alucky23 said:

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

Defriend!
And I don't even like the weepy memorials.

Way ahead of you.

This is so disgusting.

That is fucking vile. Holy shit.

ashley8918 · September 2014

ClimbingBrideNY said:

ashley8918 said:

alucky23 said:

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

Defriend!
And I don't even like the weepy memorials.

Way ahead of you.

This is so disgusting.

That is fucking vile. Holy shit.

That is pretty much the exact comment I made before defriending. I couln't help myself.

FutureMrsN3312 · September 2014

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

I have NO words...

How disgusting and irrelavant.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

ashley8918 said:

Oh, fuck no. Should not have gone on Facebook.

Whoa. That's repulsive.

JCbride2015 · September 2014

Maggie0829 said:

JCbride2015 said:

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.
I haven't read the entire thread but I am just going to touch on this point. I understand your feelings but many times when tragedies occur the sites become monuments and "attractions" so to speak for people in the world to visit and and learn even more about what happened. Look at the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, or any civil war battle field. You can visit concentration camps in Germany and battle fields from WWI and WWII.

What happened on September 11th is now a part of history and what happened that day and the sites where the attacks took place should be open to the public. Yeah people may take selfies (this is just a part of life now and we need to accept it) but that doesn't mean that they aren't taking in the tragedy of what happened. I mean if we denied entry to these places then the events could easily be forgotten which would be a horrible thing to have happen.

Yes, see, this is why I wind up feeling conflicted about it. Because I see what you're saying and I definitely do think it needs to be open to the public. I guess I'm not saying it shouldn't be open for reflection. But I think it's tasteless how the vendors are using it as an opportunity to exploit tragedy for profit. And sometimes the mood around there gets very tourist-y, for example the selfie takers.

But no, I definitely don't think it should be closed. It's an important place in history now, a memorial, and a museum, and it's absolutely appropriate for people to visit and learn about what happened. I just wish people could do that with an attitude of respect.

KatieinBkln · September 2014

I didn't live in NYC when it happened, so my thoughts on it can pretty much be summed up as "How horrible, how horrible, how brave everyone must have been."

I am not crazy about the tourism-ification of tragedy. I do not mind monuments, though. I think the difference is the amount of time that has passed, and the actual erection of an actual monument. For a long time the WTC was just a hole in the ground while they figured out what to do, and coming to NYC to see that really bothered me.

I was young at the time of the attack, 15. In 2003 my family came to NYC with me to look at colleges, and my mother insisted on going to the site. I did not want to be there. I felt like we were spectating people's pain and suffering, gawking at what (at that point) was still a hole in the earth, still full of rubble. Even at 17, I felt absurd and disgusting for traipsing in from my protected home in the center of the country to walk through a warzone and pretend that I was "paying homage" or somehow contributing as a "witness" in any meaningful way. I averted my eyes. I asked if we could leave almost as soon as we got there. It felt so wrong. I stand by that today.

I am less upset now that the monument is built and 1 World Trade is up. While I cannot presume to say that the pain of the events has subsided for those who lost loved ones, it does feel like at least we have rebuilt, stepped up, and made an appropriate place to mourn and remember. It is not quite so fresh, and the site is not a gaping wound any longer.

What I am upset about? A giant 9/11 Truther billboard that some dickheads put up right outside my office window. Not the time, asshats.

ohannabelle · September 2014

I think I processed it differently than a lot of people, because I was in a terrible place of grief already when it happened. It was less than a month after my oldest son's funeral, and I was still in shock and barely functioning. So while most people were seeing the large, international picture, all I could feel was grief for individual people.

Does that make sense? Every single person that waved goodbye or hugged their husband or wife or brother, or whoever, and said, love you, see you later...and gone. Out of a clear blue sky. Knowing that thousands of people were feeling that stunned, crippling loss. Too much frikking empathy happening. It was devastating.

And then driving to the store the next day (I live near the airport, the silence of the sky was terrifying) and there were these stupid teenage girl AWs standing on the corner waving flags and signs that said "Honk if you love America!" and giggling and posing for passing cars, woohoo! Like it was some kind of yippy skippy twisted 4th of July party...so disgusted. So angry. So heartbroken.

I was not really capable of anything but sorrow. So much grief. So much unjust death.

And yes, I privately light a candle and offer prayers for all of those families, every year. And then I try not to think about it, because the memories are still very razor blade sharp.

No Facebook for me today. Can't handle the stoopid and shallow. That sounds mean, but it truly is not. I don't want to go all PTSD on someone's ass. That's not pretty.

blabla89 · September 2014

The VP of my department sent out a well-intentioned email requesting us to take a personal moment of silence, which included a photo of the plane hitting the second tower. I cringed.

Yesterday I was talking about it with my coworker, who was working for a radio station in DC at the time. He had to read all the news that came through the AP wire machine and still remembers all the crazy, inaccurate news that was reported in the chaos of that day.

ETA: I know everyone says that, but it feels so strange to think it was so long ago.

missdelilah · September 2014

My very conservative, policeman, friend just posted a link to a story with a ton of horrific images in it, and about a hundred words of explanation. The worst bit, is that it was from an Australian news service. Well, I'm lazy, so here's a cut and paste of what I said to him:

"I actually think this is kind of shameless on the part of the Australian media; I would understand this more if it came from a US source. I think it's all about stirring up public support to tackle ISIS. I just find it insensitive for journalists who watched this unfold on TV to dredge up these horrific images without regard for people who actually were affected by this. I agree, it's something that should be remembered, and we should praise the bravery of many people who were in the thick of it. I think you could, if this site hired actual writers and editors, achieve the same end with some eloquent prose."

hellosweetie1015 · September 2014

I don't know if any of you have been to the USS Arizona memorial. It's a very solemn, very sobering place. I haven't been to the 9/11 memorial yet (we tried to go last year during our New Year's visit, but were plagued with too-cold-for-my-grandmother weather), but we've been down to that part of the City, and I think the difference is that life continues in the immediate vicinity of the 9/11 memorial. The Arizona is separate from the rest of Honolulu and Oahu, sort of, and it's a place specifically set aside for remembrance, and you feel it as you walk into the gates. You're not even in the memorial yet, just inside the park, and it becomes a more solemn place. The 9/11 memorial, on the other hand, is - and has to be - in the middle of a lively, thriving area, and it's hard to refocus people when they've just come in from the day-to-day NYC bustle with no buffer to allow for redirection of energy.

Facebook is a pit. I avoid it anyway, generally, but especially on days like this where people are going to be accidentally (or intentionally, a la @ashley8918's ex-FB friend) insensitive.

I was just-turned-13 and homeschooled when it happened, and I remember being asleep when my mom woke me up and said "history is happening". This was between the planes. At some point later in the day, I heard my mom and my best friend's mom talking about how a nearby former military base (had just been decommissioned a year or so before, and was still semi-active) could be a potential target, and it frightened me. I mean, Podunk, Alabama is not high on anyone's sights for a massive attack, but at 13 I was old enough to understand what was happening but not old enough to really process it, and the fort being a target within my sphere of cognizance was a huge, terrifying thing to me.

Maggie0829 · September 2014

JCbride2015 said:

Maggie0829 said:

JCbride2015 said:

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.
I haven't read the entire thread but I am just going to touch on this point. I understand your feelings but many times when tragedies occur the sites become monuments and "attractions" so to speak for people in the world to visit and and learn even more about what happened. Look at the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, or any civil war battle field. You can visit concentration camps in Germany and battle fields from WWI and WWII.

What happened on September 11th is now a part of history and what happened that day and the sites where the attacks took place should be open to the public. Yeah people may take selfies (this is just a part of life now and we need to accept it) but that doesn't mean that they aren't taking in the tragedy of what happened. I mean if we denied entry to these places then the events could easily be forgotten which would be a horrible thing to have happen.

Yes, see, this is why I wind up feeling conflicted about it. Because I see what you're saying and I definitely do think it needs to be open to the public. I guess I'm not saying it shouldn't be open for reflection. But I think it's tasteless how the vendors are using it as an opportunity to exploit tragedy for profit. And sometimes the mood around there gets very tourist-y, for example the selfie takers.

But no, I definitely don't think it should be closed. It's an important place in history now, a memorial, and a museum, and it's absolutely appropriate for people to visit and learn about what happened. I just wish people could do that with an attitude of respect.

Yeah it sucks when people try to make money off a tragedy but unfortunately there are sucky-ass people in the world who have stone cold hearts and care more about money then the feelings of those affected by the tragedy. Unfortunately there is really nothing that can be done about those people except for tourists and such to not buy anything from them. I just try to ignore those few that suck and focus on the bigger picture.

sophhabobopha · September 2014

winchestered said:

I was also in 5th grade at the time. My dad-a Special Forces Air Force Reservist-was in the first batch of troops sent out, he was gone before Halloween that year. He was deployed nearly constantly, only getting three or four months at a time home until I was 16. He was home for a year, and was deployed a final time when I was 17. I remember being about 13 when we went to pick him up from the airport after one of his deployments. He was walking out of the gate with his unit when there was a really loud sound. Every single one of the guys dropped and covered. The kids walking with them, myself and my brother included, were pretty much thrown to the floor and dove on top of by our parents. It was a really intense moment that I probably will never forget.

His deployment had a HUGE impact on my life and I've thought about this often. My brother and I were left home with a BSC and abusive mother, which sort of led to my drug addiction and my entire life being fucked up as a teenager because I didn't know how to cope with a dad who was at war and a mom who was psychotic. It's had lasting affects on my life, as well as my brother's and my dad's. My dad has terrible PTSD, where he's been taken out of the field and forced to work a gunless desk job because of it. He's had PTSD breakdowns where he's locked himself in the closet with his dog and refused to come out. I had to call the police to send in a team to extract him safely and take him to the hospital.

DH and I moved in with my dad to make sure he was safe and he's gotten progressively better. I don't go into his room when he's sleeping, for any reason at all. Even if there was a candle burning that needed to be blown out. There's a very real, unspoken fear about me going in there in the middle of the night for whatever, and him freaking out and hurting, if not killing me.

My dad is the sweetest and best man I know. There's no fear of startling him in the daytime, and no reason to be worried or afraid of him at any other point.

All of this being said, I have a very unpopular opinion about September 11th. The loss of life was tremendous and horrific. No one can deny that. The events that day should never have happened anywhere, but I feel like as Americans, we make a huge deal of it every fucking year. I'm not trying to be offensive, and if I come off that way, I apologize. That Alan Jackson song plays on like a loop on the country stations, and it's just this huge sob fest every year-even for people who weren't affected. It's been used inappropriately as a political platform, as a money maker for vendors, musicians, documentaries, and Hollywood, and I just feel like everything that happens with it is so over the top. As Americans, it feels like we never ever get a break from it. It's always there at the back of our minds thanks to wars or TSA issues. I don't see other countries doing what we do with September 11th. But maybe that's not because we're in another country. But at what point are we going to stop letting it take over such a huge part of our lives?

ETA: TL;DR: I'm not saying people shouldn't mourn, but I feel like a lot of the things that go on today are so incredibly unnecessary.

I agree with you so much.

steph861 · September 2014

Being from Canada (and having mostly Canadian FB friends), my feed isn't nearly as dominated by 9/11 tributes as I imagine an American's would be. My remembrance of that day doesn't really coincide with the anniversary. Every once in a while something 9/11-related will show up in the news, and that will lead me down a rabbit hole of articles, accounts and photos. The survivor and first responder accounts are the ones that really get me - it's impossible not to be affected by those. There is no way it affected me (be that emotionally, physically, politically or socially) as much as it did Americans, especially the survivors, first responders, and loved ones of victims. But the consequences of 9/11 have been felt by every North American. It directly impacted the worldview of an entire generation. ETA Ugh, paragraphs

steph861 · September 2014

As for how that day impacted me personally, I had never heard of the WTC before (I was 13 and Canadian). After school that day, I watched CNN from the moment I arrived home until I went to bed - not exactly something I was in the habit of doing. This continued for at least six months. I became obsessed with the news and international affairs, even if it wasn't 9/11 related. While I'm not obsessive about it anymore, that interest in current events has never gone away.

daria24 · September 2014

@winchestered I don't agree or disagree with what you are saying, but I don't exactly understand what you see as making a big deal out of it every year?

I live in Manhattan. I do live with it every day. There is a small plaque on my block, I walk by it several times a day. Walking to the subway I pass the firehouse, which has the photos of the 9 men who lost their lives. I can see the Freedom tour from my office building. My H works on a block away from WTC. It's unavoidable for me. But I wouldn't say it's "too much." And here in NYC, we have the ceremony every year that reads the names, marks the moments of silence. People leave flowers at the firehouses. But I don't think that is overkill. There is a ceremony every year marking D-Day. The moment of the first Pearl Harbor attacks are marked every year, and those were a lot more than 13 years ago.

As far as other countries, I've only lived in the US and the UK, and I do recall there being some ceremonies marking World War II events. I know they have a Remembrance Day where poppies are laid out on the memorials. So I think there are other countries that mark historical events, we just don't see them in our news, unless Wills & Kate make an appearance.

I don't live outside NYC, so I don't know how the rest of the US marks the occasion and whether that can be deemed "too much." And as for the criticism that there are too many documentaries...have you seen how many have been made about the Holocaust? Or the Civil War? It's just kind of the nature of the beast. People write books and make films about major events, especially ones that have occurred during a time where we have photos and video.

Cookie Pusher · September 2014

Some of the vendors bug me, but having lived in the NYC area for most of my life, I'm pretty used to seeing people willing to put anything on a hat or t-shirt to make a buck. The gift shop in the museum that a lot of people find offensive? Well, how else are they going to fund the maintenance and staff required for the site? The government will only pay a small portion of the operating costs, and how many people really want to pay more taxes to fund it? I don't buy things I find to be cheesy or inappropriate. Supply/demand.

What does bug me? This shit (CLICKY). Being accosted by religious groups, truthers, conspiracy theorists, anti-government protesters, and rude/pushy tourists on my way to and from the ceremony every year. Seeing people using 9/11 as a platform for hate, bigotry, and political grandstanding. People who basically say "I understand that you're hurting, but we deserved it because America is a bunch of assholes." And people who feel it's appropriate to tell us it's time to "get over" our loss.

briscoe1031 · September 2014

I was only 11 years old, just started 6th grade and didn't know anything until I got out of school. Maybe it was because I lived in Northern Virginia at the time but i think the schools unintentionally kept us in the dark. But after school, my dad took me to one of his friends house's to watch the coverage and keep her company until she heard news about the attack.
My mom and my stepdad worked so close to the pentagon that my stepdad's work was locked down. My mom felt the shaking from the Pentagon at her work.

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