September 11th memories

Someguy · Mar 13, 2002

About 9:30, I started my Architecture class, and i heard the Health teacher and my Teacher talking. I heard something about A plane hitting something in NY. Then My teacher lead us into the studio for the local tv station (located in our chool). I then saw that indeed, both towers were on fire. Later I saw the pentagon.I sat and watched that for about 3 hours, school was a no-go from there. the school set up TVs around the school. I remember that the underclassmen had no idea how to react,and were going about business as usual. Most of the senior class jsut sat and watched. My best friend, who's a little emotionally unstable, just cried on my shoulder all day. She was a wreck. That;s actually probably what I will remeber, both the imagews of the towers collapsing, and someone at the break of collapse as well... ever since then, we have been better friends too... but that day still makes me sad

Trainz · Mar 13, 2002

I don't work on tuesdays, so I wake up around more or less 10'ish and open the computer. I never open the TV but this time the machine was taking forever to boot up so I decide to turn it on.

I see one of the WTC towers. One. It took me a good 5 minutes to realise what was happening. I decide to call the store where I work. Of course, they already know. Then I see it crumble. I kid you not, for the next hour I stood there with my mouth half open watching the tube. Thinking of all the lives that where lost. Thinking about the whole incoming repercussions of such an evil act.

Then my wife calls me from university. "Get here right now" I tell her and she does. We watch the tube all afternoon, and then we start thinking about our two kids, and the world they are going to grow up in.

My condolences and wishes of goodwill to all my american neighboors from Montreal.

Pazu · Mar 13, 2002

Well, I lack the eloquence of many of the preceding posters, so I'll keep it simple...

My alarm was set to a news station. I woke up in the middle of a sentence about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I thought I was having a nightmare and hit "snooze".

When the radio went on again I was fully awake. I ran into the living room and turned on the TV in time to see the first tower collapse.

I called my folks, who live in NJ, just to make sure they were all right. My mother was trying to reach her sister, who lives in NY. She was fine. My wife was worried about a friend of hers who lives in DC and works at the Treasury Department. She was also fine.*

I drove to work in a bit of a haze. For some reason, our medical group actually bothered to have a business meeting, although I don't remember that anything useful actually got accomplished.**

I spent most of the day logged on to these very message boards, lurking, reading the posts from Triple H and Chairman Kaga, whose work I greatly appreciated. I remember becoming enraged at another physician who called me that day to whine that I hadn't completed a report on one of his cases. I remember being largely incapable of getting any work done, so a friend and I eventually took a long lunch break in a nearby park under a treacherously serene blue sky.

I remember feeling both profound grief and cold fury. I remember hearing the (probably overly-emphasized) reports of a few Palestinians dancing in the streets chanting "God is great!" and telling my friend that this was why I couldn't believe in any sort of God, because everyone in the world thinks God is on their side. My friend, a devout Christian, wisely said nothing.

But I also remember that in the midst of the carnage, there were moments of such grace and selflessness and courage, from the rescue workers at the WTC site, the passengers on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, and yes, the folks like Triple H and Chairman Kaga on these messageboards. And I am thankful for that.

I've rambled too long about this. Sorry.

-- Pazu

*My wife later told me that her friend at the Treasury Department first realized something was wrong when she was watching the international market and saw the dollar drop suddenly.

**Our group generally doesn't accomplish anything useful at business meetings anyway, so this wasn't unusual.

King_Stannis · Mar 13, 2002

Chairman_Kaga said:
I was two blocks away when the first plane struck...saw it all. I blew out my knee dodging flaming debris and bodies. Walked all the way from southern Manhattan to the Bronx where I actually live (never mind the profile) on a blown knee, as all subways were shutdown.

I remember very little from the moment of the first impact to the explosion caused by the second. I remember a child holding his mother's hand and realizing the rest of her was under a pile of rubble. I remember wishing the whole world would burn.

I've calmed down some...my knee has had two surgeries since, but I will always have to wear a brace. My wife doesn't cling to me the way she did immediately after anymore. I don't see people jumping 100 stories to their deaths whenever I close my eyes anymore. The building where I work is back up and running and it no longer resembles an armed camp...

Things would appear to be getting back to normal...

except that every time my knee twinges I truly understand what it feels like to hate...and maybe a little part of me still wants the world to burn.

wow....what can you say to something as profound as this? i got a lump in my throat reading your account.

maybe you need to post this in the "WotC layoff" thread currently on the board. as bad as losing ones job is, it may offer some perspective for those members here who think it's the end of the world.

Chairman_Kaga · Mar 13, 2002

That's not a bad idea...for three weeks or so, no one in my office knew if we still had a job. As close as we were we didn't even know if we would be allowed into our offices.

I work for a toy company and with xmas and the NY Toyfair coming up, if we couldn't get in there, my company would have ceased to exist...

Chairman_Kaga · Mar 13, 2002

Pazu said:
...reading the posts from Triple H and Chairman Kaga, whose work I greatly appreciated.

If my account helped even one person to understand what happened...what it was like to see it first-hand and not through the eyes of a cameraman...then I am thankful...

Chairman_Kaga · Mar 13, 2002

For those who can't see them...

orbitalfreak · Mar 13, 2002

Beautiful photo

Wow, an absolutely amazing image there. I especially love how there's a starburst halo around Lady Liberty. The beams of light, when I first saw them, struck me with a metaphysical wave of emotion, and I immediately thought: "Two shafts of pure light, showing the way to Heaven for those departed souls."

May we never forget.

Darkness · Sep 11, 2002

Re: Beautiful photo

orbitalfreak said:
Wow, an absolutely amazing image there. I especially love how there's a starburst halo around Lady Liberty. The beams of light, when I first saw them, struck me with a metaphysical wave of emotion, and I immediately thought: "Two shafts of pure light, showing the way to Heaven for those departed souls."

May we never forget.

I agree absolutely.

Heh. Today is 9/11/02 - and I went back to this thread again to compare my memories today to those of half a year previous. And they haven't changed...

Peace,
Darkness

Kyramus · Sep 11, 2002

I was at work.
One of the co-workers came in and said that if I had a radio, to turn it on. The twin towers were under attack.

By the time we managed to get a radio working, the first tower had fell.

When the second tower fell, I was at my desk manning the phones in case people start calling for problems.

I had a mug half filled with water, and when the second tower fell, there was ripples in the water.

The WTC was about 20-25 blocks away. I live in NYC and my work place is on 18th street and 5th ave.