Where were you on 9/11?

[Indiana Sev]

Since most of us here (save a few) weren't even born when Kennedy was assassinated, I thought I'd instead ask where everyone was and how they heard of the attacks on 9/11?

I was sleeping in since I had finished work at 1:00 am the night before when my alarm went off (not the buzzer) and I quickly heard something about a plane crashing into the one of the twin towers. I think it was still in the early stages of it happening because I remembered coming to the conclusion that it was an accident, so I shut the radio and went back to bed.

A couple of hours later, a friend of mine I was supposed to meet called me, woke me up and asked me if I had heard what had happened. I told her I heard something about an accident and then she proceeded to tell me about the real chaos that had taken place. I then turned the TV on...

At the time I was working at a video store and I went into work that night and had to deal with customers actually coming in and asking to rent movies like THE SIEGE, INDEPENDENCE DAY and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (films dealing with terrorism and/or attacks). :rolleyes: I was ready to start punching these people's lights out!

GO HOME AND WATCH THE NEWS FOR CHRISSAKES!! IT'S HAPPENING FOR REAL!!!

Anyway, what's your story?

[Grebdron]

My mother woke me up to tell me that a plane had crashed into the tower. I watched the news with her for about 15 minutes, when we saw teh second plane collide live.

[Annie Hall]

I had woken up early, taken a shower, done my morning routine and stumbled into the kitchen for breakfast when I noticed the news was on on the mini-tv in my kitchen. I asked why it was on, and someone mentioned a plane crashing.

I pretty much sat and watched all day, until my friend came over and demanded a game of Gin Rummy around 2pm because I was so glued to the things happening.

I saw the second plane crash, and was watching when the 3rd crashed into the pentagon, and when they discovered the fourth.

[badberry]

I was sleeping in that day as I didn't have any morning classes...after I got up and was getting ready to head out to school, my friend who was coming to pick me up phoned and said something to the effect of "holy shit, do you see whats happening in the US?" I said "no...", and he quickly relayed the info. I switched on the news, and sure enough there it was. When we got to the university, the students union building was packed full of people staring at the few TVs that were around, everyone expressing total disbelief and shock. All of our lecturers made some mention of it, and postponed assignment deadlines etc. It was a very somber day around campus.

[JohnTheHenchman]

I was still in High School at the time.

My father took me and my sister out of school. He works in Newark (which is only a few miles from Manhattan). Him and a bunch of other people stood atop a bridge and saw it all happen right in front of them.

[bob]

I was getting out of the shower, about to go to school. It was a pretty grim ride to school, as you can imagine.

[jeo4]

I had just dropped my wife off at work. I came home and saw one tower burning. Then the second plan collided. It was a real jolt. I called my wife and told her. The rest of the day was just hour after hour of coverage. Newscasters were genuinely upset, but remained professional in most cases. TV and radio stations abandoned their programming to allow news channels to cover the disaster live. I just sat and watched it all in a state of shock.

[Morgana]

I had just gotten up (I'm west coast time), I logged on to the internet and saw the headline news, and honest to god... I thought the pictures of the burning Two Towers was some kind of a sick joke. I didn't take it seriously till I turned the TV on, and there it was. I was beyond shocked.

[Adam J. Hakari]

Our Advanced Biology class (junior year of high school) had just come back in from performing experiments in the woods nearby the school. The TV's in the cafeteria were tuned onto news coverage, and by the time my next class (study hall) started, the second plane had hit and news of the other planes was starting to come out. Pretty much the whole day of school was spent watching news coverage in the classes. :(

[Raoul Duke]

I was in jr. high at the time. I went to school, then come home for lunch and my mom told me what was happening and we watched CNN for the coverage. I was surprised that none of my teachers had mentioned nothing about the attacks during the morning.

When I got back to school everyone was talking about what had happened and such. But we still went about business as usual in class, even in history class...I mean, Jesus, history is unfolding right before your fucking eyes! Who cares about some god damn pioneer did in the woods a hundred years ago!

[outsyder]

I was sitting in French class. Then an announcement came on, saying something about planes, and that 'the towers were down.'


Had no idea about what exactly happened until I got home that afternoon.

Stupid censoring school, denying me important information.:mad:

[Jerk Shapiro]

I was in Computer Discovery when our principle came over the intercom and told the teachers to turn on their TV's to see what happened. The rest of the day was spent watching it.

[BadCoverVersion]

It was midday, I was in bed...my boyfriends birthday is September the 11th. You work it out!

We switched on the telly, the first tower was smoking - we knew immediately that something HUGE was about to happen.

Suffice to say, the day didn't go as planned.

[Tweek]

I was late for school that morning. I turned on the news while I was waiting for the cab and saw the video of the first plane going into the tower. at first i thought it was some sort of joke. :(

[BorderEevilIII]

Me and my roomate tuned in that morning to KGO SF Talk radio station because we both like Ronn Owens. As I look back I could NOT believe what I was hearing. Is this a bad dream? I wish it was.......

When I arrived at work we had a TV in the employee lounge & quickly tuned into ABC because the others NBC & CBS did not catch very well and my worst fears was right in front of me. :( :mad:

Throughout my short day at work I was hearing WILD rumors of 8 planes that were hijacked and it was a very confusing and crazy day.

The managers asked if anyone did not feel safe at work they were allowed to go home. I obviously elected myself to go home. My roomate who was working also got off early but had to do make a quick stop at a Circuit City store. When I entered their TV's was tuned into what was going on in New York and making sense of what has happened.

Well thats my story of 9/11 :(

[bmain77]

I was sitting in my British Tradition of Literature 1850-something or other. We didn't find out until class was out and I was heading over to the common area to catch some SportsCenter. A buddy of mine came running up to tell me about it and I thought he was completely full of shit until I got to the TV.

None of my intructors canceled class that day but they were actually quite theraputic as they ended up being us talking about what had happened.

I was glued to the TV for the next 3 days. I finally got to the point where I couldn't take listen and seeing family members of victims talk about what had happened. So I finally flipped on my playstation to play some madden and I felt so guility about doing it.

[bmain77]

Originally posted by outsyder
I was sitting in French class. Then an announcement came on, saying something about planes, and that 'the towers were down.'


Had no idea about what exactly happened until I got home that afternoon.

Stupid censoring school, denying me important information.:mad:

I can't believe that. I was doing my student teaching when the we invaded Iraq last year. I had all my classes even the english ones watching CNN that day and answering their questions as best I could.

[blankpage]

I think it was at the beginning of English class. An announcement came on saying,

"There is two planes in trouble, let's keep them in our prayers and hope they land safely"

This was around 9 30 in the morning, and they really skimmed on the details. Damn Catholic school.

The eerie thing was, I was in New York city, in that exact spot...only months before it happened. Really, it could have happened when I was there. It really but me in retrospect of the whole thing and got me thinking.

[Grim H.]

It was my freshman year in high school. I had just left my third period class (everything being quite normal so far), and I was heading for my drama class. There were only about two people in there (along with my teacher), and my teacher seemed shocked. They had announced on the intercom that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center. My jaw literally dropped.

The rest of us were herded into someone else's classroom; someone who had a TV. The news was rolling live images of New York and the disaster. Just when no one thought it could get any worse...it did. On live television, a second plane flew into the remaining tower, resulting in a fiery explosion. After what seemed like an eternity, the tower began to wobble and all the stories crumbled. The World Trade Center stood no more.

This I couldn't comprehend. I mean, I had been to New York. I had visited the World Trade Center. I stood in awe as I had to tilt my head back almost as far as it could go to see its peak from the adjacent street. I remembered feeling an intense freedom when I stood on its roof and gazed down onto the magnificent city far below.

But that had been 6 years ago, (9 years now) and the twin towers had been reduced to rubble in what seemed like an instant. That day I almost lost all faith in mankind. I have yet to regain all of it...

[quoth_the_raven]

I was at a former friends house, we had been watching a movie and we turned it off to get a bite to eat. We tuned in as one tower was burning, and saw the second plane crash in. Shocked doesn't even come close to how I felt...I didn't watch anything else all day, just followed the news coverage.

[Lindsey]

I was in 8th grade at the time. I was getting ready for school in the morning, and I turned on the TV to the Today show. That's when I saw the towers up in flames. The rest of the day at school consisted of talking about what's going on. Definitely a sad day.

[horrorfreak13]

I was in my first year of college going to a class when someone told me what happened and during lunch break I turned on the news to see what was happening I think I had it on the news the entire day when I got back home it was chaos.

[Tom Samborski]

I was on the computer, eating breakfast, and a news program was on. I turned my head for a second, and then I turned back, and I saw an image of the first World Trade Tower on fire. At first I thought it was a really bad accident as a result of a small plane, but as soon as I saw the second plane hit, I knew it was no accident.

[countchocula]

I believe I was a senior in High School at the time. The teachers were prudent enough not to continue with the daily routine, so we watched CNN all day. It seems that most schools followed the same regimen.

Originally posted by Indiana Sev
At the time I was working at a video store and I went into work that night and had to deal with customers actually coming in and asking to rent movies like THE SIEGE, INDEPENDENCE DAY and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (films dealing with terrorism and/or attacks). :rolleyes: I was ready to start punching these people's lights out!

GO HOME AND WATCH THE NEWS FOR CHRISSAKES!! IT'S HAPPENING FOR REAL!!!

While I can't understand the urge to watch terrorism-themed action flicks, I can understand the need for escapist entertainment. Was I the only one too sickened by the news coverage to surgically affix myself to the TV set for days after 9/11? I was forced to watch it at school, but I outflanked it on my own time. History may have been unfolding before our eyes, but I didn't want to immerse myself in it. It didn't feel healthy to gather 'round ground zero for hours on end. There's nothing wrong with watching movies to deflate the tension. Independence Day wouldn't be my first choice, but everyone had their own way of dealing with the terrorist attacks.

[Fisting Ackbar]

Around 4:00 in the afternoon for me (was living in Europe at the time), was hanging around the dropoff spot with a couple of guys where we got our papers for our paperroutes, when my cousin showed up (he worked there too) and told us that planes had hit the towers. Seemed unreal to me since it was only four years ago that I had been on top of them, so I sort of shrugged it off and got to work. An hour or so later I ran into my cousin again who told me more details, including that some big government building was also hit. Immediately I realized it must have been the Pentagon, and it actually dawned on me that this was no accident. Got home as soon as possible, and by then they had already fallen.

[Indiana Sev]

Originally posted by countchocula
While I can't understand the urge to watch terrorism-themed action flicks, I can understand the need for escapist entertainment.Independence Day wouldn't be my first choice, but everyone had their own way of dealing with the terrorist attacks.

I agree, escapism with movies was a good alternative that day and for the few to follow but the fact that these people wanted to see terrorist-themed movies while real terrorism (and history) was happening on TV boggled my mind.

Dumbass'.

[notchreturns]

I was in school, leaving my 1st period class. The TV was on and the first plane had just crashed.

Followed the whole day on TV at school. Quite the surreal thing.

[Unicron]

We are 12hr ahead of the eastern seaboard. I was watching ROVE LIVE which started at 8.30pm when it just cut out and went to Sandra Sully, Anchor woman of Channel 10 News saying a plane had hit Tower 1. Then Chn10 became NBC, Ch7 become CNN, Ch9 was CBS, ABC was the BBC and SBS was SKY News. All 5 channels went live.
I stayed up all night in disbelief

You couldn’t escape the horror. For four days that’s all they showed.

[bowieee]

I showed up to teach my preschool classroom and the whole center was practically deserted. I asked my co-teacher what was going on and that's when she told me that planes had been crashing into the twin towers as well as the pentagon. I swore it was a hoax for a few seconds before it sunk in. I went home for my lunch break to watch the news and I remember just losing my breath while watching the news and then later breaking down and crying.

[bankholdup]

I was in gym. See, it was like the 3rd day of school or something, so none of us had our lockers, locks, or clothes yet. So, the whole class (I was a freshman, and we had students up til seniors in there) was on the bleachers. The tv had been turned on (whether it was for entertainment to kill an hour or because someone told them what happened, I'm not sure), and everybody was watching. Hardly anybody could tell what was going on though, so it was tough. Not a single teacher was allowed to talk about it, which pissed me off. Me and another kid almost got yelled at for discussing it, but all went well, I guess. I had to wait until I got home to learn anything about it.

[Grim H.]

Originally posted by bankholdup
Me and another kid almost got yelled at for discussing it

To me, that just sounds fucked up. I mean, if a plane crashes into a famous building in the middle of New York, I would expect people to talk about it.

[Could Be Worse]

I had woken up early that day to work on a graphing project, and was watching the Today Show. I was truly speechless.

[MarkItZero]

I was just waking up when my wife called and told me she just watched the second plane crash into the Tower. I immediatly sat down in front of the TV and didnt move for several hours.

Oddly enough, the living room in the college apartment that I was living in at the time, was wallpapered floor-to-ceiling with a picture of the night-time Manhattan skyline. The World Trade Center towers dominated the room behind the TV. So as I watched the towers fall on TV, I kept glancing up at the large picture of them on my wall. When we first decided to rent the apartment, the wallpaper was one of the reasons we really liked the place. After 9/11 it was just sort of creepy.

[ANavissi500]

I was walking to band from precal when my good friend, John, came up and said "Hey, I heard a plane flew into the World Trade Center" when we were walking across the cafeteria stage. Then we talked about Starbucks because neither of us thought anything of it until we got into band and watched the live images of the buildings collapsing. I lost it and was sobbing like crazy.

[Anthony4sho]

8th grade. Sitting in woodshop.

[BubbaStrangelove]

It was my last day working the evening shift -- If it had happened the next day, I would have seen it, as I switched to a morning one.

The odd part was that my alarm kept going off, and I kept snoozing through it -- I heard about the hijacking, but kept hitting snooze. it wasn't until I woke up, showered, then walked down and saw the TV that I realized what happened.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Benny]

I was a freshman in a high school where I knew hardly anyone. It was the third week of school, and it was a beautful sunny late summer day. At about twenty minutes past nine during my World History class, my teacher was pulled out of the room by another teacher. Ten minutes later, she canme back into the room and told us that a "small plane" had struck the World Trade Center, and that it seemed like it was no accident. We spent the rest of the day talking about the incident, and it was at that point when I first heard the name "Osama Bin Laden." Our teacher told us we'd be hearing a lot more about him. She sure was right. I spent my lunch period watching the news on TV in disbelief.

On the same day, there was a death in our family (not related to 9/11). So in the midst of this national tragedy, our family was dealing with a personal tragedy. I had to leave school for two days. It was a horrible time for me, so every 9/11 since then has been especially tough for me to deal with.

As a escape from the tragedy though, I found this website, so the story does have some good in it.

[JCPhoenix]

I was in Science class in Grade 9, in the first couple days of high school...people just started talking about it and then an announcement came on about the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. I was pretty stunned...never thought this kind of thing would happen. I mean, it wasn't at all close to me since I live in Canada, but it was still very shocking.

I've saved the newspapers from that month, a whole stack of them in my bottom drawer of my desk. It may seem a little morbid (or sadistic), but I'm keeping them as they're a big part of history and a good record of the type of reactions that were going on around that time.

[James Logan]

I was at school. It happened at about 3 PM over here, just as I was coming out of school, my older brother was there in the car to pick me up, and as I got in...He went "Hey, y'see what's happening in New York?". I go "Nah, what?". Answer flies back:

"A plane fell on the city."
"Fuck off!"
"Seriously. Plane flew right into the World Trade Center skyscraper."
"C'mon, do I look like an idiot? You just read that Tom Clancy book I bought last week [true fact] and making this shit up."
"Wait. Listen."

He turns the radio on, on the news frequency, France Info. They're talking about a tower in flames, New York and chaos. I'm starting to buy it. Scratch that: after a few seconds, I believed him.

We get home. While he's parking the car, I walk in -- my mom's in front of the TV, and as dumbass as this may seem, she had a bowl of popcorn on the table in front of us that she'd prepared for a snack as we got home, before even turning the TV on and seeing what was happening. I sit down next to her, start to see the first images. CNN. Next thing I know, another plane flies into view. I barely even notice it. Until something hits the second tower and a big explosion comes up. I don't eemember if it was live or if it was something they'd gotten from another camera, but it felt live. Smoke covering the city, people running.

I sat in front of the TV for the next two or three hours. I can remember most of the famously morbid images -- the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan in Smoke images, the images of WTC workers throwing themselves outta the windows...

It was definitely a weird day. And the next day at school happened what happened to all of you (living in Northern America that morning) -- just walking in, everyone talking about, the name Osama Bin Laden flying around (I'd heard the name, but never would've imagined something that big), the teachers giving us a little talk at the beginning of each class.

Definitely a special day, a special week, a special year. Kind of an adreline rush, a "what the fuck?" feeling, and also, of course, disgust and anger. I'll remember it.

[Scarface98.9]

I had woken up, and did my daily routine of a shower and brushing my teeth, then went to turn on Good Morning, America. ABC News was on, showing footage of the WTC on fire and the chaos. I wasn't sure what was going on, and in my usual fashion, asked myself "World Trade Center? Where's that?" I went online, and did my rounds, and when I was done, I watched the news more. I went to school and it was a big subject for the day

[DRbeauty]

I was in high school at the same and I was fooling around with my friend in the hallway. THen this teacher came out looking all upset and gave us this dirty look. We didn't find out until 1/2 hour later when we were in gym class. It was so strange...

[SAI]

I was at work. At the time I was doing telesales for a window company. Our receptionist came into the phone room and told us to turn the radio on, that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre. We listened for a while then our manager told us to go back to work "they're just Americans, back on the phone" were his words. I almost got up and smacked him. Then 5 minutes or so later Linda came in again and said that the second plane had hit. I put my phone down, switched the radio back on and told Tom I'd not be making any more calls that day. We just listened to the radio for the next 3 hours.
I remember going to buy a late paper after work and that the streets, though full as ever, were very quiet. I switched on the news at home and saw the footage for the first time. Scariest thing I've ever seen. Still.

[PapaJupe2k]

Where was I on 9/11? Well I remember it pretty clearly actually. I slept in late that day because I was extremely hungover that morning from a long night of boozing the night before. I was half awake and half in a stupor when I got up and turned on my tv set that late morning/early afternoon. I wasn't really aware of what was going on, but I knew something big had gone down as I was getting the same news highlights on every station. It took me a few minutes to get a grip on what had happened and when I finally realized it, I was just floored. Something of that magnitude can sober a guy up pretty quickly, in my case literally. I was pretty shaken for a while, I'm one of these people that worry way too much about little insignificant things, and this was an absolute shock to my system.

I remember later that afternoon I had to walk about 45 minutes to where my car was parked from the night before. I live in a small town of 28,000 people so it is by no means any sort of metropolis, but the town that day was absolutely eeriely silent and void of any sort of hustle and bustle. There were a few cars on the road, but it was something I noticed right away as walked almost from one end of town to the other. I immediately thought of that Twilight Zone episode where there is the one man and the town is completely deserted. Yes I wont forget that day for the rest of my life.

[ColinM]

I was a senior in high school, and I remember dreading that day because I had three tests. I was on my way to my second test, a math one, when I was hearing all these rumors about accidents. I had heard that the pentagon was on fire, and I heard that planes crashed into the World Trade Center, and then there were other rumors going around my school that other attacks had taken place where they really hadn't (Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, blah blah blah). I was really curious as to just what the hell was going on because from all the rumors it felt like the whole country was falling apart. I breezed through the test, then rushed up and hijacked my teacher's computer to check out cnn.com and finally found out what was really going on. The next period, my teacher had the news on and I actually saw the towers go down, and I got very emotional about it. I won't soon forget that day, of course.

Interestingly, I wasn't a schmoe yet, and that very day I planned to sign up. Obviously, with everything that was going on, I didn't get to and instead I signed up a few weeks later. That's kind of a weird, interesting side note, I suppose...

[ColinM]

Oh yeah, another sidenote; I was taping the Today show that morning for some interview or something, so I actually got it on tape. I didn't see the first plane hit, of course, but they soon cut to the tower on fire and everything, but I actually did get on tape the second plane going toward the plane and crashing into it. It was pretty far away and a bit small - the newscasters didn't even see it - but was most definitely a plane, and as soon as it went behind the tower, a big explosion came out of it. They reported for a bit longer then we lost the station. It was indeed a frightening thing to see.

[chilli pepper]

Well, I was skipping school at the time(one of those few times my mom didnt care if I went or not). And then all of the sudden she rumns in my room and starts babbling about planes and the world trade center and what not and then she says turn on your tv (and of course it was more or less on every channel by that time and the channel I left it on the night previous was no exception). My televison faded in just in time to see the second plane hit now thats not a good way to start your day.

[ilovemovies]

I was a sleep in bed. My mom comes into my room, wakes me up and puts my television on.

[bankholdup]

Originally posted by ColinM
...then rushed up and hijacked my teacher's computer to check out cnn.com

Couldn't have chosen better words, could ya, Colin? :)

[ColinM]

Originally posted by bankholdup
Couldn't have chosen better words, could ya, Colin? :)

WHoops! Sorry, absolutely did not mean to offend anyone...

[electriclite]

I was a sophmore in college, and it was my first 2 weeks in NY attending school.

I was in bed, and was supposed to be on my way to class at 8am, but my grandmother didn't wake me up (had no alarm yet) until after 9am after she got a call from my mom who wanted to talk to me and I remember her saying "Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. They say downtown looks like Pearl Harbor."

Of course I'm still groggy from sleep and I think its like those small propellor planes that fly around the city. I turn on the Tv and I got it REAL quick that it wasn't prop planes that hit the building. I remember being shocked at how much damage there was and how much smoke was coming out of the buildings. I remembered the last bombing and the sight of the buildings on fire yet still standing and thinking to myself "They've thrown everything at it and that building is still standing"....... And then they fell and it felt like hitting a brick wall. For some reason when they fell it was like it all became much more serious, much more earth shattering. I guess cause I knew if they fell the body count was going to be horrifically higher... and it was. And then came the huge cloud of dust and the scope of the situation just became something beyond comprehension.

I remember during all this that the radio had said that a car bomb had possibility gone off in front of the UN (which was proven false) and then I heard about the other plane crashing into the Pentagon and then about the one crashing in Pensylvannia where my dad and brother and sister live. So I frantically tried to call to see how they were (all safe). I remember hearing all this and just feeling like it was the end of the world; all this constant insanity coming in from all over it just had to be the end .

I tried to go online to contact friends to tell friends I was allright because our cordless phone didn't work cause we lost the antenna on one of the towers and we lost a lot of reception. After that I just watched TV all day and saw replays of the planes hitting the buildings and watched till I fell asleep. The next day I had my fill and tried to just watch cable and avoid all the coverage.

[someguy]

The thread title reminds me of that crappy Alan Jackson song made for 9/11. God do I hate Alan Jackson.

Well I was at school and heard nothing about it until I came home from lunch. My mom told me. I went back to school later, told some other classmates who actually didn't know what I was talking about or cared. Of course the next day they were all sobbing and crap. Pathetic. Just like Alan Jackson and his stupid songs. God I want to kick him in the face.

[C-Desecration-]

I wish I could say I saw it and immediately felt deeply, deeply affected and took time out to mourn.
I didn't.
Saw it at school, first period. Speech class. The teacher had on the television, and to be honest, I wasn't sure what she was watching. Then someone mentioned something about the Pentagon. But, we had a lot of speeches to give that day, so the teacher turned off the television (!!) and we went about our business.

Next day, a few people mentioned it.
Other than that, business as usual.

Does this strike anyone as odd? The strange thing is that if I knew someone who was killed during 9/11 that I cared about I probably would've paid much more attention.
You know what's even stranger? That's not so strange.
But just so I don't seem like a total ass I did say "gosh, I feel for those families." Never did anything to help anything, though. Even though I'm in Colorado I still could've.
I've come to realize that kids are pretty self-absorbed. It's not their fault, but the "school" environment and everything is at the apex of the universe in junior high and presumably high school (this happened when I was in junior high).

[TheDeadWalk]

I was in my apartment sleeping.

My girlfriend called and woke me up to tell me, for a huge fact is that my brother was living, and still is living in the big NYC. I hadn't had my cable installed yet, so I was without tv. I was paranoid and alone in the basement apartment of a four floor complex in a decent sized Ohio city.

I skipped Anthropology class, and tried to find out what was going on via internet, and the only website I could get to was USA TODAY. Everything else was so slow to get to, yahoo included.

[Jim H]

I was in school, barely awake, when a teacher rushed in. He was this guy who always had this jokey, amused expression on his face. You could tell it was slightly forced right then. He wheeled a TV in, it was shortly after the second plane collided. We watched it all day, live. Same thing the next day. I remember we started to discuss who did it, and I was the only student who'd ever heard of Bin Laden (first hearing of him after the Embassy bombings, I'd read a bit about him before).

I also remember thinking this was likely the defining event of my generation. I also made a brief list of predictions about what would happen, which turned out to be remarkably accurate.

They were vague, and went something like this:

1. It will turn out to be Arab terrorists
2. This will probably cause a draconian shift in laws about various things
3. Airport security will finally improve (I used to comment how horrible it was every single time I flew - still do, in fact, as the improvements still aren't good enough).
4. We'll see at least one war before the end of this presidential term.

There were a few others, a couple of which were wrong. I wish I could find the actual handwritten list, but I lost it at some point.

[RicochetShaw]

I was a freshmen in High School, in English class. Over the PA system, the secretary announced a plane had hit the World Trade Center, and asked all teachers to lead their classes to the Sanctuary (I go to a private school.) As we walked in, some one turned on the giant screen so the whole assembly could watch. I remember watching the first tower in flames, then we saw the second tower hit live. We pretty much stayed in there all day, watching the coverage.

[Cyclonus]

It was my fourth year of college. I had just woken up and was heading into the cafeteria to grab a bite before my first class, when I immediately noticed everyone crowding around the TV's. It was obvious that something major was up, but I wasn't prepared for how serious it really was. When I looked at the screen, part of me honestly thought I was dreaming and would wake up any second now. Needless to say, a couple of my classes got cancelled.

It's always been the case that when something significent happens in my life, it takes it a while to sink in. It was so in this instance, especially since something of this magnitude is so difficult to comphrehend. I remember there was a thread about it on these boards, and that I wondered if World War III had just begun.

I've never been to New York, and when I do, it's sobering to know that I will never see this world landmark with my own two eyes. :(

[Indiana Sev]

I thought I'd bump this for the 3rd anniversary of the attacks.

[Lynn7]

I think we will always remembeer exactly where we were on that day and the horror we all felt. But I also remember the following days and how good it felt to drive down the streets and see all of the American flags and the signs that said "God bless America". The concerts to raise funds for firefighters police and victims families and how our country was so unified in its grief and its ability to come together in a show of strength! Remember the congressmen and women standing together (Dems and Repubs) and singing God Bless America, (I think that was the song?)

Though I have always loved this country, that period of time was the first time I really felt truly "patriotic" and wished I had an American flag to display somewhere- but they were all sold out!

[TheAxeGrinder]

I was in my computer programming class when I heard the news. I didn't think that it was serious at first (like so many people). Then I went on Yahoo and saw for myself what was going on. It didn't really sink in for me until later on.

[Raymond Babbit]

Originally posted by blankpage
The eerie thing was, I was in New York city, in that exact spot...only months before it happened. Really, it could have happened when I was there. It really but me in retrospect of the whole thing and got me thinking.

I know what you mean, I was there like two weeks before it happened, and it seemed so weird to me. It was like, "Dude, I was just there!"

Anyway, it was my freshman year of high school. I was in Algebra. Some girl comes into the room, says, "They bombed the World Trade Center!" Teacher turns the tv on, and the tvs in school were on the rest of the day. I think we saw the second plane hit, but I can't remember for sure.

[Tai Mai Jew]

I actually had a really bad dream a week before of me falling out of a burning building, and right before I hit the ground, the same dream looped back to the beginning and it happened over and over again… it was really strange. I actually wrote it down in my journal, and I was writing in the same journal on the way to school when the planes hit those two towers.

[Jas]

I was on vacation when I heard.
A couple of days later I had to take a plain home so I was pretty frightened :(