What were you doing on september 11 2001?

[IndianaSlim]

I was eating breakfast before class at Harrison Hall, one of the dorms at Purdue. I watched the second plane hit about the time I sat down to eat. I ended up going to class, but we turned on the TV and talked about what was going on. I remember going back to my dorm later that day and leaving my door open (pretty common practice). The cleaning lady that cleaned the halls was mopping floors and heard CNN. Without saying a word, she came in, sat down on the futon and watched for at least an hour. When she got up to leave, she thanked me for the hospitality and went back to work. The other thing I remember vividly is that one of the gas stations close to campus spiked prices to something like $5 a gallon as soon as it happened. There were MANY people that never would go back to that gas station because of that, even up until the time I graduated 4 years later.

 

[jeremy]

In the Field in Germany having a Glorious day blowing through HUGE sums of Taxpayer Money all in the name of Army Training...

Not a thing in the World like knowing that in 1 Minute you can decimate 1 square kilometer of anything...

 

[Grizhicks]

I was in London, Ontario, Canada on a 3 month work assignment (at the Stryker plant), wife was a work (at the Federal building, which was "locked down") and both daughter were at Purdue. Really wanted to get home, but coudln't due to work and the borders being closed. Did come home about 2 weeks later. -- Greg

BTW, some fo you guys are YOUNG !!!!

 

[lovemachine]

I was in the cafeteria at my high school. Just got done with weight lifting, and was sitting on the bench drinking water and carbing when I caught it on tv. I just stared in disbelief. The rest of the day, everyone, in every class, we just watched the tv.

 

[Deadly Z Driver]

I was taking the ISTEP test in high school. A teacher came in and said something to the teacher in the classroom. The tv was turned on and we were told to continue taking our test.

This is what I was doing as well, but our teacher waited till we were done to turn the TV on and before she did she said that she didn't want us to freak out but there has been an attack on the WTC in New York. My Dad who was working for United Airlines was in DC at the airport doing some classes and my Mom picked my sister and I up from school. It was a scary day and my Dad ended up driving back home. I also had an Aunt and Uncle from Penn. who where on a United Airlines Flight but we didn't know which one and were afraid it was the one that went down in the field but it was not the one they were on.

 

[DarkRose]

I was working 2nd shift and asleep, and a friend called and woke me up and she was freaking out so bad it made it sound like we were being invaded. I kept a shotgun next to the bed back then and rolled out bed, grabbed it and a box of shells and checked all the doors and windows before I even turned on the TV.
Saw what was happening and didn't calm down much... Went to work that afternoon, and since we had 2 big TV's in the break room, none of the supervisors were really enforcing break times all that much the rest of the night... People that didn't feel safe coming to work were excused for that day... We actually had most of the shift show up, had a few volunteer firefighters and guardsmen stay home just in case...
Was a night at work that none of us will ever forget.

 

[shooter521]

I was on the way to work at the gun shop; both planes had already hit the towers and I heard about it on the radio in the car. Listened all the way in, then got periodic updates from customers during a RECORD day of sales. Once I got home, I watched the cable news until the wee hours of the morning.

 

[360]

I was having pre-Jimmy Buffet concert sex with my girlfriend, (now my wife) when it happened right in the middle of business. I had Fox News on that morning, then we got busy, then that happened, and we gave up because of the horror we witnessed. Needless to say, the concert that night was rescheduled, and we never left the house the rest of the day, glued to the TV.

That event MADE Fox News what it is today (It was Shepard Smiths money maker)

 

[SSGSAD]

I was working, heard on the radio, that a small plane had hit WTC,
my brother called, and said come over, and look at the TV... My wife
called, and said two planes had hit the WTC..... Couldn't believe it ...

 

[femurphy77]

I was getting ready to go work at my job at United Airlines. I'd pulled up the latest news on the 'net and saw that the first plane had hit and turned on the tube just in time to see the second one hit. Like everyone else I knew it wasn't an accident. By the time I got to work we had planes everywhere at the maintenance center. It sure was quiet at work. Several days later one of the leads contacted me to see if I would go to Pennsylvania to assist in that investigation. I had to defer, I knew I would have a problem with all those little flags they use to mark the remains of the heros on the plane that day.

 

[E5RANGER375]

it was like 9am, i was doing what any other respectable Ranger was doing....... sleeping.

I dont like to dwell on the attack itself. It was one of the lowest days of my life honestly because i wished I could be there to help. but it was comforting that, as soon as the attack occured we were getting ready because we knew we would be going. And O'Boy did we ever!!! I think knowing I was able to be part of the payback crew for my country was the proudest moment of my life until my daughter was born. Every Rangers wet dream is a night jump into a hostile country to deal death to your countries enemies.

 

[colt45er]

I was a sophomore at Avon High School. Like some above, we were taking the I-step.

The testing was quiet and nobody knew anything unless the teacher did but she didn't lead on. At one of the morning breaks, we were all in the halls and that's where the rumors started. Most of which we couldn't believe.....who would intentionally fly OUR planes in OUR buildings?

The break is up and we all went back to our class. The teacher turned on the TV for a few minutes and answered what little questions she could. It was understood that we were supposed to continue testing, however we learned later that the test results would be thrown out.

At lunch and throughout the day, most rooms had the TV's turned on and class didnt really happen. I do remember some of the teachers in the lunch room kept changing the TV until someone would go change it back to the news.

At one time I had a teacher threaten to take me to the principals office becuase I turned the news on. She said the news was scarring some of the students.....My replay was ,"Good, it should scare them"

 

[SmileDocHill]

I was prep.'ing the largest bridge prep I had done up to that point. I set aside an entire morning to prep an 8 unit bridge (canine/eye teeth and premolars got crowned to replace his front 4 teeth that got knocked out). My assistant and I were a little focused to be able to get pulled away. The procedure is usually not that bad but his anatomy, anxiety level, and the fact that we had no pre-op impression made it difficult. We had to hand sculpt an 8 unit bridge chair-side, and he owns a restaurant so it had to look great. I was doing a little of both Macgyver and DaVinci that day.

 

[tmfinney]

I still remember that day vividly. I was just starting college and I had the day off from work and I decided to not attend class that day. My parents had to go to Muncie for a doctors appointment and I was at home watching my then 14 month old cousin. I remember my mom calling me and telling me to change the tv to a local news station and when I did I couldn't believe what I was seeing. If anything I thought I was watching a movie when I saw the second plane hit.

Another thing I remember about that day was the fact that I ended up getting called into work. I worked at a Speedway gas station and the whole town was going nuts getting gas. I had to do everything from running register to directing traffic that day.

 

[kboom524]

I had just got home from working third shift, taken a shower and decided to watch some news before heading to bed. News was showing that a plane had hit the tower, then I watched the second plane hit. Spent the rest of the day glued to the television. Didn't get much sleep that day before heading back to work that night.

 

[semperfi211]

We were on vacation in Laguna Beach Ca. We were going to go to San Diego zoo that day. We went out for breakfast and heard the news.

 

[printcraft]

On the way into work. Dial scanning the radio, got to Bob and Tom
and they were talking in an unusual monotone.
Saying there appears to be a terrible accident in New York.........................

Turned on the news station and then people on the radio talking about
how it was a beautiful clear day in New York and how could someone
not see the building? Then the sudden "oh crap" when the second plane
hit the other tower. It was a surreal day for sure.

I watched the replay Saturday night from my hotel room down in St. Louis.
People jumping rather than burn to death.
Firefighters running toward the burning building.......
Knowing what I do now I was thinking "You will be dead in 15 minutes, that building is coming down RUN AWAY"

Made my heart thump in my chest.

People forget far too quickly.

 

[snorko]

I was working, same job and office as now, and everyone stopped and gathered around a TV when the second hit. I had to deliver a couple reports to a bank and a law firm and it was the same everywhere. No one was working and everyone was silent. We shut our office down at lunch.

I was 33 at the time. The New York Times Sunday edition began publishing the obits of all of the victims. The vast majority were people who don't normaly die - average folks in their 20's to 40's. I read every obituary they published out of some feeling of connection. It was not that I thought this could happen to me, it was that this happened to people just like me. I was strongly affected for a long time.

Interresting note. I had friends apartment hunting in Paris that day. They got to an appointment and the old woman they were meeting greeted them sobbing, saying something about New York burning. They were confused till she led them into her home and they saw the TV. The woman was old enough to remember being liberated by the Americans in WWII and kept saying "how could someone do this to America?"

 

[Bubba]

When the first plane hit I was on a bus in Madison, WI on my way to class at UW. I walked into the languages building and when I got to my floor the TV in the hall that was normally turned to some random international broadcast was showing domestic news with a crowd around it. I watched long enough to see the second impact, and to see the tower fall. I went into my classroom and the poor TA kept trying to hold class and failing. Most of us just sat stunned and couldn't participate. One girl kept saying she was from New York and needed to go home. A guy who walked in late got in an argument with the TA about why he didn't need to follow the standing rule to apologize to the class in Japanese for his tardiness. I cut all my classes after that. I called my (then) fiancée but we didn't say much. I stayed on campus most of the day since I didn't have TV, but I couldn't bear to watch the ad nauseum replays and only checked for new information. I called my parents later in the day, and I saw the lines at the gas station. The next couple of weeks were particularly quiet on campus.

 

[PatriotPride]

Sitting in class at school. All of the teachers were running around like crazy, then turned on the TV. I was struck by how clear the sky was later that day. Not a single plane in the sky.