[OT] Sep. 11th was the day that I...

[Drayan]

September 11 started off as any other tuesday for me. I woke up to my alarm clock, which was tuned in to a local radio station. For a while, i just lay there, listening to the djs talking about Jordan's return to basketball.

I had a class at nine that morning, so i got ready and headed off to the community college.

English dragged by, as it normally did, without the slightest clue as to what was going on many miles north of me.

I was glad to get out of english, because i had an hour break before my next class. I made my way to the student lounge to play some pool. As i stood contemplating my next shot, i noticed a rather large number of people gathered around the TV. I was a rather apathetic person at that time (i've since lost that apathy), and noticed that it was all guys, so i figured that they were just watching something on Micheal Jordan. I finished my game, and went outside to read, as there was way too much noise in the student lounge. I heard a couple of the instuctors mention a pipe bomb, so i figured i'd go check out the news.

By this time both of the towers had fallen. Still oblivious, i noted that the student lounge could have been legally declared a fire hazard for all the people. I walked over to a friend, and asked what was going on. Needless to say, i was floored.


My thanks to all of those who helped keep us updated here, and and also help us remember Chairman_kaga who made it out alive, only to be killed in a car accident.

 

[WayneLigon]

I get to work pretty early in the AM. We were installing new PC's in many of the offices, so iwas going to and fro. One of things we produce are infom,ational videos, so there are a lot of TV's around so peopel can quality check and fact check, etc. I was installing a PC in one office that had such when people came in to turn on CNN.

It was totally out of curiosity, really. At the time the TV was turned on, nobody knew what had happened or was happening. The news was just treating it as 'hey, there is smoke coming out of the tower, what's up with that'. Nobody knew about the first plane then.

Vague impressions begin to drift in, and soon it's apparent that a plane has indeed hit.

I'm installing the PC, look over, watch some, etc. Then we see the second plane hit the other tower. Things get really really quiet then, because no way that that's an accident. We get to watch it several times at that point.

Then the Pentagon. Then we sat and watched the building just collapse. I never thought such a thing could happen, a building just..implode like that. But I do remember everyone saying 'Thank goodness it didn't fall outward'. The damage would have been immeasurable..

We'd decided it was some sort of terrorist act, then, but we were sure it was Saddam. Or Iran. We kept waiting for things to actually get worse. We talked about the Japanese subway nerve gas attacks, and how NYC would be the perfect place to do something like that. Or put it in the ten-story-tall towers that feed air to the various tunnels, makign them impassble to emergency vehicles. We waited for bridges to go. We waited for LA to be hit, next. We waited for riots. We waited for war. We waited for the first non-test nuclear explosion in more than 50 years.

I was one of the few people with an offsite online access: my various MUSh games and so i logged on tere to see what everyone else was hearing. The Net was intermittant. We have almost 90%% usage on the massive intranet we use, so when it gets full it shuts off. So i'd get a few tidbits, then things would go down again and I'd head back to the office with the TV. Nobody did anything for a day or two.

It was shocking. It still is in many ways.

I'm in the American South, and have not been able to travel much for some time now, so I don't know what it's like in other places. We still have flags lining the major streets. Almost every store, every eatery, every business either has a flag in the window, or a 'God Bless the USA' on it's signage somewhere. Many cars have 'Never Again', flags, or variations on 'remember' on them.

A number of things have remained the same. Some things did not change. Others are subtle reminders that things will either never be the same, or will change only very slowly. The hospitals only let so many people on the Obstetrics floor, and then only with a visitor pass. I have not flown since that day (not that I did a lot anyway, it's not unusual that I have not, and i would get on a plane now if needed) but i have gone to pick people up. My car is searched each time, but only in a cursory manner, since I guess I look tame enough. But then we're only a major military stopover, and center for the Air Force computer systems.

A year later, we still wait for war but we know that 'war' as we normally think about it will not, cannot, happen against a group like this. A whole new generation of people hear about the Iran Hostage Crisis at the barber shops, and discuss how we'll rearrange the world maps. Life goes on.

 

[Dagger75]

I was unemployed at the time. My roommate work me up when he went to work saying that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I watched the whole day. I also watched what unfolded for the next 2 days. I don't remeber going to sleep.

As a side note, I got a temp job at the end of September at a Nuclear Power Plant here in Florida. There were helicopters flying over and lots of people walking around with machine guns looking at ID's every 10 minutes.

 

[Daiymo]

Ive been thinking of this two. I was at work as well-I drive around all day, and was out of touch for most of the day. I had heard that a plane had hit the WTC-but b/c of lack of info I too thought it was a single engine plane.

Funny but like many things pre 9-11 I thought that an accident of a single small engine plane while unfortunate for the occupants of the plane was bad, but I gave it little thought. However, I soon got more and more details, and found myself glued to radio and TV when I had a chance till I got home that evening.

Also, I live in the Midwest, Indiana to be exact. We midwesterners are a funny lot ,liking to be prepared. When trouble brews over the horizon, like an approaching blizzard in the winter or tornados in summer, the first thing Midwesterners do is make sure their cars have full tanks of gas and the shelves are stocked with food.

The days leading up to 9-11 I had let my car run low on gas. On 9-11 I had to get fuel. The surreal sight of seeing my local gas stations(3 to be exact) in a town of perhaps 5,000 people each having lines of 30 to 40 cars awaiting to get gas is one that is seared in my mind. This was of course a natural reaction to the threat (at the time) of war, oil shortages, and of reports of price gouging around the country.

It is a sight I will never forget of that day, along with the other more famous ones.

 

[Kilmore]

I have never felt real sad or shed a tear, or was even terribly shocked by the WTC terrorism. The only thing I have ever felt about that is madder than hell. I am not a fighter by nature, but on and after Sept. 11, I wanted to kill people: both the people responsible, and the people who support them. I know that this may not be the best response, and I really do feel a little weird about it, but anger is the only word to describe what I have felt. I'm sorry if people think I'm terrible for this, but I'm just being honest with myself and my esteemed comrades in this message board.

 

[Morrus]

My reaction, from the UK, was a little different.

My first feeling was one of pity for the families of those involved, and for those who would have experienced the terror of the event. Especially those trapped in the building.

I didn't feel much "shock" like many people here; partly, I guess, because it wasn't in my own country, and partly because I'm a bit more used to hearing about terrorist activity. But I was appalled at the actions - I found it hard to believe that someone would actually do that.

I remember being remarkably impressed with the way it was handled here; people stuck to pure news reporting instead of offering opinions and lashing out, and I think the boards proved invaluable to many people, especially when sites like CNN were down due to the traffic. The threads were archived, for those who remember - you can see them in the archive forum.

My girlfriend refused to go to London for about 3 months after the event, although, fortunately, those fears proved unfounded. I also remember some silly situations - upgraded security at ridiculous places which would never be targeted for terrorist attacks, and felt that people were giving in to fear a little too much. The best thing anyone could do, in my opinion (especially those in the US) was to go about their daily lives.

I also remember being dreadfully concerned about nemmerle. Luckily, he wasn't close enough to be affected, but he did tell me a bit about the event and how it affected things where he worked. Now I've been to Manhattan and stood outside his workplace, I realise just how close he was to it.

One thing that does surprise me is that everyone asks about my recent visit to the US "Did you go to Ground Zero?". No, of course I didn't. The very thought of going there like a tourist or spectator struck me as sick and macabre, no better than people who stop at the scene of a road accident. We went past it once on a bus, but I paid little attention.

Anyway - thanks, angrymanboobs, for keeping this free of political discusson. It'd be a real shame if it got heated and had to be closed.

 

[fett527]

One thing I've enjoyed seeing here are the reactions from posters from other countries. I understand your detachment Morrus, as I am sure others do. I was very moved by our National Anthem being played at Buckingham palace as I hope were other Americans.

I was in a meeting planning a rebuild of a customers server and the first we heard were radio reports of a plane crashing into the Pentagon. We watched the TV the rest of the day as events unfolded.

My wife and I had a walkthrough inspection that afternoon of our new home we were having built . We live near Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, OH and we are used to jets flying over, except this day. We looked up every time a jet would fly by; fighters were taking of from the base. One of them broke the sound barrier and the sonic boom shook the house. We were pretty frightened by that. Even around the base we hadn't heard a sonic boom in a long time. That will always be one of my most vivid memories.

 

[Henry]

9/11/01 was the day I KNEW for a fact that ENWorld was a strong community.

My day started at work, where at roughly 8:30 we had JUST gotten back up and running smoothly after a server crash from the day before. It bugged me that certain replacement parts weren't available, and most of my morning until about 9:00 was preoccupied with that.

My attitude rapidly changed after 9:00 am. When the first reports started rolling in, Everyone in the company was transfixed. I solved a few issues, but by and large was not that busy. I used the time to catch up on news - which NO one was getting other than by TV - and by ENWorld.

I used TripleH's threads to keep the news flowing. This community meant a lot to me that day - everything from the messages of support from all over the world, to the flow of info, to the concern and offer of prayers and concern from most everyone here.

One other thing that needs mentioning - 9/11 is a day also to toast one of our own. The good Chairman Kaga, whose harrowing report which came about a day later, is a chilling one I will not forget. He was just stepping off the subway when the first plane hit - he said he looked up to see the whole thing. His other statements I will not relate here due to content and vividness, but they will stay with me forever. His joy of escaping alive, his progress over his hurt knee, I remember following. His tragic recent passing makes it an even stronger memory for me.

9/11 is a day to count your blessings, to be happy about the health and life you possess, and to be ecstatic about the friends and family and relationships you have. Count all your blessings, because they can be fleeting.

Love to all.

 

[Brown Hood]

My Sept 11th experience was much like most peoples'. I was at work, etc, etc. What I wanted to say was how much I love NYC. I had never been there until February 2002. My wife and 3 of my cousins and their spouses all went together. We stayed at a red roof inn 2 blocks from the Empire State building. It was uncommonly clear and you could see the Statue of Liberty way out from the observation deck. I didn't realize that, even though I had never been there, I could pinpoint the exact location on the skyline that those building used to occupy. We didn't go to Ground Zero. Like someone else said, it would have been morbid.

Instead, we just soaked up the city. We had drinks at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. The view of the Empire State all lit up in Red White & Blue was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Then we went to eat at the 21 Club. Some ritzy place one of my cousins wanted to go to ($40 steak! best I ever had though). We tried to see the whole city in 4 days. We came pretty close too. We hit broadway (saw Urinetown), the museums, the park, Soho, the Village, the Intrepid, pizza....I just have to say that New Yorkers were some of the friendliest people I have ever met. Always willing to point some bumpkin North Dakotan in the right direction.

So, as Andrew WK says: "I love New York City!"

 

[CrimsonScribe]

Where was I?

Seeing as I live in Australia, I was sound asleep. All of a sudden, my mobile phone rings and wakes me up - it's midnight. The person on the other end asks for someone I've never heard of, and I tell them they've got a wrong number. Before I can hang up they say something about turn on your TV, someone's flown a plane in the WTC.

So I go out the lounge room and turn on the TV and tune in, waking up my parents on the way. We sit in disbelief for about 2 hours - mostly watching the same footage over and over until we decide to go back to sleep.

Somewhere along the way, we got a call from my sister who lives in Japan, apparently their news agencies were reporting that there were planes headed for DisneyLand/World as well!