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What were you doing on 9-11?

I was a junior in High School then. There were rumours during lunch break and I remember I didn't believe them (I know, shame on me). But then after lunch during my math class, the teacher set up a TV in the class so we could watch the news. We had a discussion on theories about who had been behind the attacks.
 
I was a senior in high school and remember hearing it as a rumor in the hallways on my way to a math class. I just shrugged it off and didn't believe it either until I saw it on tv. I also remember that I had an audition for our fall musical after school that day...
 
I was home sick and my mother called me crying hysterically and told me to turn on the news. Our family was in panic for 4 hours because my mom's brother had been scheduled to fly out of Logan airport in Boston that day, and no one could reach him. He finally called, and my family gathered for a prayer vigil. It was the most surreal day I've ever recalled. Like a bad dream you can't wake up from.
 
I drove to work that morning listening to CDs so I didn't know what happened. When I got to work, I grabbed my lipstick and was applying it when a co-worker said, "didn't you hear?" Then one of my boss's said that a plane hit the World Trade Center. I commented that it was a very strange accident and how could it have happened. My boss said he thought it was a terrorist attack. Then when the second plane crashed, we all agreed. Our waiting room was full of patients who didn't know what had happened. We switched on the radio over the sound system and everyone was quiet. Most of the patients just walked out, home to their families. Others called to cancel appointments. Our receptionists had to ask if they wanted to reschedule and many of them answered along the lines of, "I don't know if I'll even be here tomorrow." We tried to go through our normal routines at work, but we were all zombies. Everywhere I turned, someone had their hands folded in prayer.
 
Today's weather was almost identical to the weather 9 years ago...
 
I was in my apartment in Brooklyn doing freelance work having just recently quit my job with a national TV show based in midtown Manhattan -- or I would have been in the city already. The Today show was on & when they started figuring stuff out -- so did I. I was only a short walk walk away from the Promenade, which had a full, panoramic view of the Towers -- but I was afraid to leave the coverage to go look for myself. Knowing what happened next I'm glad I didn't witness it that way. Did eventually go down there while the site was still smoldering & what seemed like millions of wreathes & tributes & posters were posted all along the riverbank. That day & for days after my neighborhood was covered with ash & paper debris from the collapses.

It took three days or so to be able to get out of Brooklyn & down to visit my family in the South. During the drive I couldn't turn to face the direction where they would have been. By the next summer, I'd moved out of that apartment and into a house 90 miles north of the city. At the time it didn't feel like a reaction to the events. In retrospect, of course it was.

This year my husband's company flirted with moving into the Empire State Building. Can you imagine how relieved I was when they opted NOT to.
 
I was a sophomore in high school. I didn't even hear about it right away: in fact, not until a few hours after it happened. Looking back, I'm really upset that no one made a big deal about it until the afternoon. It's almost like no one there took it seriously at first, or maybe they really didn't know what was going on. By my last class though, we were all just watching the coverage on TV.

My dad was home that day, and he called my mother at work to tell her what had happened. He was on the phone with her when they announced that another plane had hit the other tower, and that it therefore was not an accident.
 
I woke up to my mom, then the Postal service, ringing my phone before the lines were overrun. Shanksville isn't very far from us, and we have a ballastics lab outside of town. The rural carrier that had the route freaked out and refused to deliver the mail, and I was the first carrier they could reach.

My daughter's Catholic school was the only one to dismiss the kids, and I had no way to get her, and no way to call my family because the lines were tied up. Another mom that I worked with had the day off, picked up my kid too, took her out on my route to show her I was alive, then took her to a friend's that had a supply of food and water in her basement from the Y2K scare. My daughter is a senior this year....so that would have made her eight then....

Late that night I filled the tanks on both cars and my boyfriend thought I was nuts to insist on having extra gas. As a rural route carrier, you have to use your own car to deliver mail. We did have a gas shortage for a little bit, and having a second gas tank to tap from helped.
 
I got up to go to university on Sept 12 (in Australia) and realised that my parents weren't up, which was pretty unusual. I found them watching the news coverage. It was pretty detailed at that point (hours after the events) so we at least had a decent idea what was going on. Friends of mine had been up all night watching it unfold. I went to uni and watched so many terrified exchange students come to class because they couldn't contact anyone at home, didn't have a huge support network in a foreign country, and didn't know what else to do. It was devastating to watch them and made me hyper-aware of the human tragedy of the situation, even though it was happening on foreign soil.

Our thoughts were with you all.
 
Senior in high school in my 2nd period College Writing class. My teacher had just moved from New York. She pretty much freaked out and left school as soon as she heard. She had a lot of firefighter friends. We watched tv in basically every period that day.

After school, I went to work (as usual). The store was so dead we closed early.
 
I had the day off & turned on the tv after my husband called from work, saw the 2nd plane hit & all subsequent tragedy. Had chills & goosebumps all day.

A few near-misses for which I'm grateful: my husband worked across the street from the Twin Towers but was in a Conn. office that day. All the employees at his bank spent most of the day sitting on the steps in a dark stairwell, afraid to leave the building. Had they done so early on, the collapse of the towers would have killed them. So in the dark, they listened to it happening. My god.

My brother was a pilot for American Airlines & also flew out of Boston. I had no idea of his flight schedule; it could have been his plane. Got through to his house in Vermont but only voicemail & he didn't call me back for 3 days of biting my nails. He had brought in a flight the night before from California. In his earlier time w/the airline he flew as 2nd Officer with the pilot of the AA plane & liked him, also know several of the flight attendants. He still obsesses over how those folks must have felt when they realized the fate awaiting them, seconds away. As do we all.
 
I was a sophomore in high school, headed to my English class with Mrs. Black. There were murmurings in the hall about the WTC being hit by a plane, and when I walked into the classroom my teacher had the TV on. She was staring at it with her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. The whole class watched in silence as the second plane hit the towers. I don't think anyone said a word throughout the whole class period.

It was so surreal.
 
I woke up early and the baby (who is now 9) was sleeping so he wouldn't nurse so I got out the double pump and got it all set up and turned on the TV and let me tell you - milk would NOT let down after that... I had almost no milk for a couple days in fact, talk about stress reaction. I had a playdate with 3 other moms and their infants and for lack of something better to do we got together but we were all... it was very surreal. it was a strange new world that morning... I don't know how the middle easterners live with that sort of trama so frequently...
 
I was living in Oregon then.
I was out-of-work at the time and surfing the internet for jobs.
My eldest son (who hadn't started college yet) had gotten up,
walked into the living room and turned on the TV
Suddenly he hollered out "Mom, a plane just crashed into the Twin Towers!"

My first thought was "Those crazy small-plane pilots!" :((
 
I was a freshman in college.. I was in the middle of getting ready for class when I got an IM from my brother saying "are you watching the news?" After seeing it, I walked to class and it was the most surreal moment.. No one was talking to each other, everyone was on their phones, and everyone just had this look on their faces.. It was the same look for everyone.. Shock or disbelief.. I don't know what. Ever since that day, I always turn on the TV as soon as I wake up to watch the news.
 
I was at work, at the same small law firm that I work for now. Of course, we didn't have TVs or radios on, so I didn't know what was happening until my MIL (now XMIL) called me. She was asking if I'd heard anything from XH (we had been married for less than a year at the time). We live close to DC, and XH's work was even closer to DC, so she was understandably worried. As soon as I got off the phone with her, I walked into my boss' office and told him what was going on. I then got on the phone and tried to call XH at work. The message I got said: "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later." I had NEVER gotten a message like that before when calling XH at work, so that's when it really hit home for me. Eventually, I did get through, but I must have tried unsuccessfully like 25 times.

We turned on the radio in our office so we could hear the news. I think we were listening to NPR, and the announcer was telling us what was going on as it happened. Then they played the National Anthem. My co-worker and I just hugged each other and cried.

My boss let us each take a long lunch so we could go home and watch the news. I remember calling my Mom at lunchtime and telling her to go get my brothers, who were at school. I watched the news for a while, but I had to turn it off after I saw the first person jump. :blackeye:
 
I was on line in my favorite chat room.
My son was watching TV.
I spent the day relaying information to those who
had no news access.
To this day when I see a movie with the Twin Towers intact a chill goes through me
I will never forget.
 
I was at work, in a huge old psychiatric hospital at the time. We were trying to avoid disturbing routines for some of our patients, so were watching events when we could on a portable tv in a store cupboard.

I went off duty at 5pm, then sat with my grandmother for a while. By chance, all three of her adult children plus three granddaughters and a grandson were either visiting or working in NYC that week and she was worried, to say the least, thousands of miles away. They were all safe, but so many families are not lucky enough to be able to say that and I feel for them, knowing just a little of the anxiety they must have endured that day. The pain they've endured every day since, I cannot begin to imagine. It was a tragedy that touched people in every corner of the world.
 
I was in tenth grade, I had been outside of the school during one of my morning off periods and when I went back into the building one of the security guards told me. I couldn't believe it. I then headed to my history class and the teacher had the television on and was crying. We all sat together and watched as the second tower was hit and they fell. I live on Long Island, only about 20 miles from NYC and many people who live here were involved one way or another. Many of my fellow classmates and school faculty lost friends, parents and other family members and many others headed in to help with the rescues. Many of the members of my family are emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police officers and nurses and they all went straight in the aid the NYC emergency team. A permanent memorial was built in my town for those who passed and it is just a few blocks away from my house by our main fire department.

It is certainly a day I will never forget...
 
I had just started student teaching, and I was teaching first grade for the year. One of the teachers came into my room and handed me a note. My cooperating teacher was assessing one of our students in another classroom. I was told to remain calm as I read the note, which basically said that the WTC had been hit by planes. This teacher went to get my cooperating teacher to take over the class so that I could call my dad, who works for the aviation administration. I tried calling him to find out what was going on, but all the lines were busy.

Parents were calling the school and coming in to pick up their kids soon after. I guess they wanted their kids to feel safe at home and spend the day with them. Because I was teaching first grade, the little kids wouldn't have understood what was going on, so we made it a typical day for them. As soon as school ended, everyone raced home to be with their own families, and my roommate and I were glued to the news in our apartment.
 
driving myself to my first class of the day in college on a beautiful sunny day. I pulled over parked to hear the rest of the news on the radio, and just cried. Was late to my class of course.
 
I was a Junior in High School, and morning class was Military History. So part of my teachers morning ritual was putting on CNN and we would watch it for the first portion of class (all of our classrooms had tv's, but most were used for morning announcements and not usually on during class). So we actually already had the TV on when news of the first tower hit the news, and watched the rest of class, and saw the second tower hit, and come down. I remember we all left class, with a very sad vibe, many of us crying, and everyone in the halls were walking around, laughing, totally normal. We realized that most of them probably had no idea what had happened yet.

Being close to the city, the amount of deaths, and "close call" situations we so high for me and my friends. Many lost parents or loved ones. And there are so many stories of "my dad worked in the WTC, and got stuck in traffic" or "was supposed to be there that day but called out sick or missed the train" etc etc. My current boss was walking to work at the WTC, coffee in hand, when the first tower came down right before his eyes. One of my former colleagues was the GM of the Marriott there. They evacuated the staff and guests of the hotel. Some of the employees werent out yet, he went back in, and the tower came down and he lost his life. Every time I drive to work, there is a specific spot on the turnpike (for those who live in the area) where you come around the corner and bam you see NYC, and it gets me every time.

My grandma's estate is set high on a mountain with panoramic views the NYC skyline. The views were breathtaking. That day we went up there, and all you saw was smoke. Now, everything I go there I can so sad when I see the skyline, and the empty spot where the towers used to be. :((
 
I was working out in the gym that morning, and I noticed people standing around watching tv, which was not normal. I asked what was going on, and they said a plane had hit the WTC, and we were in shock, trying to rationalize what could have happened to the pilot for that to happen. When the second plane hit, we knew it was not an accident, and we all rushed home to contact our loved ones, and watch the news.

My husband and I drove to NYC when we were young adults, and had drinks at the restaurant at the top of the north tower (Windows on the World), and I will never forget the view, or how high it was.

I, like you Storm, will never forget the images of people jumping.....never forget.
 
I was in midtown Manhattan on 9/11 working on the 15th floor of a pretty well-known large retailer on 34th street. When the first plane hit, we all thought that it was a small plane that had hit and didn't understand the severity of the situation. Then we started getting flooded with info and tuned into the radio. We raced to the 19th floor where we had a view of the tower and could see the hole and smoke. We soon were evacuated around 10-11ish. We were all very worried and frantic. I lived in NJ at the time and commuted into the city thru Penn Station which is just across the street from my office. All trains were shut down and I was stuck in the city until around 4pm with no cell service to call family and friends to let them know I was ok. People that know NYC knew that I wasn't near the trade center, but my family back home don't know the city and were terrified for me. I sat with a friend at a bar across the street from Penn station and watched the news with many quiet, awe-struck people. People were running into midtown covered with dust and dirt. I couldn't believe what was happening. For weeks after 9/11, our building was getting threats and we were evacuated many times. Running down 15 flights in panic-mode was terrifying. I left NYC and moved home to Massachusetts a year later.
 
I'm now remembering it more clearly, how everyone thought when the first plane hit that it was some sort of horrible mistake. Some knew immediately that it was an attack, others couldn't believe it until the second plane hit.
 
I was at work busy with whatever.

When a couple people started talking about the World Trade Center being bombed or attacked I literally said something to the effect of: "So what... Its the third time they've attacked it and they were bound to be successful sometime" (I knew my history and that it was a target); and I literally just went back to work.

I did not get a better idea on how bid a deal it was until I left my office building (at the time a small building inside the "protected area" of a nuclear facility). Security was on high alert - and had the most amazing arsenal of weapons on display.

I did not see any of the pictures until that evening when I got home.

Truth be told - I'm still quite surprised by the number of people caught by surprise by the attack.

Perry
 
I was home with my two young children having a typical morning. Someone called to tell me to turn on the tv and I flipped on the Today Show. The first tower had been hit and I think maybe the second, too. They were just figuring out that the first was not an accident. There were also unconfirmed reports about a plane headed for the Capitol. DH was on an early morning flight from New Orleans to Chicago and I remember thinking really carefully to consider whether there was any reason for terrorists to be on the flight. I kept telling myself that it was an unlikely target. I called DH's secretary to make sure I had his flight info correct and kept listening for updates on the aviation system. My Mom and friends, who knew that DH traveled regularly (and frequently to NY) started calling. Luckily, after not too much time had passed (maybe an hour, 30 min? It's sort of a blur), DH called his secretary from the plane just to check in. She told him what was happening about the same time he felt the plane make a sharp turn. He asked the flight attendant what was happening and let her know that he knew that planes had crashed. She was alarmed at first but then he showed her that he was on the phone with his secretary. She told him that they were landing in St. Louis and a few minutes later she used his credit card and the phone to call her family and let them know she was safe. DH's secretary told him to call me, which he did, just before they landed. He assured me that everyone on the plane was on high alert and he was virtually certain that no terrorist was onboard. Luckily, they brought the plane back to the ground pretty quickly.

All this time I was also talking to my sister who lives in DC and works at the National Zoo and/or getting updates from my Mom on DS. She is considered an "essential employee" b/c the animals have to be cared for but she and her colleagues fed and secured them all and left anyway. She walked the long way home b/c of the traffic gridlock, and said it was really weird to see the fighter planes flying over the city. We were all pretty freaked about what might come next.

There was chaos at the St. Louis airport when DH landed and were no rental cars. Fortunately, DH had made friends with the guy who had been sitting next to him on the plane who was the chief of surgery at Tulane Hospital. He was able to get a car with the understanding that in a national emergency he needed to be at the hospital. The two of them drove the twelve hours home and arrived after midnight. I had waited up and was never so relieved to see him.

It was such a scary and sad time. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share.
 
My mum woke me up in the morning and said there had been a bad accident or something in America but it didn't really sink in and I saw some of the news at breakfast.

I went to school and our teacher cancled our lessons and let the class watch the news all morning.
 
I was in 11th grade eating lunch in the cafeteria when a friend came in saying a plane hit one of the twin towers. I thought it was an unfortunate accident until I went to history class and we watched the news on tv and saw both towers were down.
 
I was going in a few minutes late, (flex time) because I was going to an early blowout sale for sheets. I was idly watching Bryant Gumbel, waiting to leave. The NYC skyline in the distance, was the backdrop for his voice, when he got the report that a "small plane" had hit one of the towers. He started talking to some guy working down at the ground floor of one of the towers. The people down on the ground seemed clueless and all over the place on what they thought was happening. Then, the second plane hit. The guy he was interviewing was naturally agitated, and almost shouted something like, "OMG. They did that deliberately!!" Gumbel came back with the journalistic primness, "Well, I mean, what makes you think it was deliberate?" The guy shot back, acid seething in his increasingly panicked voice, "Two planes in 15 minutes????? What do YOU think, Bryant!!????" I was pretty much thinking the same thing.

The first one seemed ominous, but the second.... All I felt was exactly how I felt the morning of April '95 - numb, and gutshot. Like, OMG, this CAN NOT be happening AGAIN. I left the house in a daze and went to the sale - I'm not sure what I was thinking - I don't think I was. I just remember walking through there, seeing all the people who hadn't seen the news yet, and thinking how surreal it all was.

I got to work and the place was almost deserted. I worked at a federal installation near an AIRPORT, at the time. When I got in the building I heard about the Pentagon. At that point, even though the official word to leave had not come down, I decided job be damned, I'm going HOME. My mom and I just hung out about 6 inches apart for the rest of the day....

I'm sure no one who was not THERE in NYC can properly imagine what it was like, but being from Oklahoma City, I expect I came closer than most to understanding on a visceral level...for me, hearing about it was like a really really bad dream or flashback, only worse because of the sheer scale and reality of it.
 
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