Where were you when...

NikCole · September 2011

you first heard about the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks?

I know this is probably overdone... and it's all over the news... but with the 10 year anniversary this weekend I felt like reflecting.

DH and I were glued to that Discovery special about the building of the memorial and the new building, so we've been talking about it a lot.

Two*True · September 2011

I lived on the west coast so I was still in bed. My boyfriend had an early class so he was up and saw the news. He woke me up and said that a plane had hit one of the towers but they thought it was a small private plane.

He went to class and I got up and watched the news. After the second plane hit someone called my phone and said "I'm scared, I'm coming over." I said okay thinking it was my friend Georgia but no one ever showed up. To this day I have no idea who called ::shrug::

I think I stayed on the couch glued to the news the rest of the day.

ArcticFox · September 2011

I was in grad school, north of Pittsburgh, working at my assistantship. We dropped everything to go watch TV in the student lounge. People were also on edge because of the plane that went down in PA.

Being from LI, a lot of my friends worked/lived in and around NYC, fortunately they were all ok, but I remember friends walking from NYC to Brooklyn over the bridges etc to get home. All so shocking, it doesn't feel like 10 years ago.

NikCole · September 2011

I was working at the Gap, and we were there early for a delivery... working in the backroom and listening to Howard Stern. He started talking about it, and even though he can be such a sarcastic a$$, you could tell he was serious and upset. Then me and another girl walked down to the bank to drop our deposit and there was a huge crowd gathered around one of the satellite TV kiosks (before the mall opened, so mostly employees and mall walkers.) They were showing the coverage and we stopped to watch. It was right when the Pentagon got hit. Shortly after the mall closed and we all went home. I'll never forget that drive home... listening to the radio and just looking at people in their cars- everyone looked so somber.

DH (we were dating at the time) worked in Niagara Falls at a rental car company. They were slammed, since air travel had been canceled and everyone was renting cars. I remember meeting him at his apartment after he finally got out of work and we just sat glued to the TV till like 3am.

I still can't believe it's been 10 years...

missyjg · September 2011

I was home getting ready for work. My sister called me and asked if I was watching the news. We have several friends in NYC so I was attempting to call them, but of course didn't get through. DH lost 2 close friends in the WTC, both were FDNY. DH attended 18 funerals (he's a fire captain) in the week he was down there, heartbreaking. Oh, to boot, then at 11:50 I get a call that my MIL had a stroke. It was not a good day.

Irisheyes1247 · September 2011

I was a junior in high school in second block French. We were working on a practice Regents exam and the principal broke in. This was very common for him and I remember being annoyed that he was breaking into class time for probably the 3rd time that morning and then he shared the news. We pretty much spent the rest of the day watching the news in classes.

BitsyKelly · September 2011

I was a senior in high school, in my AP Biology class. We heard something had happened and our principal made the decision to not let anyone watch TV and continue the day normally. I got upset and stormed out of my next class, went into the yearbook room (I was editor) and listened to the radio when the second plane hit.

I was so upset after that, I called my mom and told her to either pick me up, or I was walking home. She came and got me and a few of my friends and we were glued to the TV for the rest of the day.

meryltheresa · September 2011

I was in college and just so happened to be in my history of radio broadcasting class. We got the news, and my braniac professor thought it would be a good idea to keep the class going and turn on the radio. I get what he was trying to do, but LeMoyne has a lot of kids from NYC/NJ area, and there were a few in my class. They asked to leave so they could go call family members and he said, "no." A girl started to cry and he finally let us all go. My roomate was in the national guard at the time and when I got back to my room she was packing up to go home. We all just sat around watching the news all day. I only remember being terrified.

sunnygirl05 · September 2011

I was at work. I remember it as if it happened yesterday. We all went into one of the conference rooms to watch the news.

MrsRichardson915 · September 2011

I was at home. I woke up and turned on the Today show like I did every weekday morning. They were showing the first tower on fire and I was so confused. I remember thinking that it couldn't be real. I sat down and as they were talking about the first hit, the second plane came into view and we saw the second tower being hit. I was in such shock. Tears were streaming down my face and I just sat on the couch all day glued to the tv. I have three friends from college that all worked there, luckily none of them were hurt. Two worked together at Lehman Brothers, and they got out in time. The third had missed her train that morning and was running late so she never even made it to the building. It was crazy waiting to hear if they were all safe because nobody's cell phones were working. I think it was about 3-4 days later when we found out they were ok.

prncsstp · September 2011

I was at SU - and I had woken up to my roommates alarm and had heard something about a plane crash, but I thought I was dreaming, and rolled back over to sleep for another 10-15 min or so.

When I got up, I went to my social work class (funny how I couldnt tell you what days my classes were on, but Ill always remember that my Social Work class was on a Tuesday because of 9/11?) and the footage was on tv.

We were all watching, but once the first tower fell, everyone got up, and began calling friends/family in NYC... I went back to my dorm, and watched the news coverage with my friends for the rest of the day.

JenJar · September 2011

I was in school in Ohio at the time and was driving to a pediatric dentist's office to pick up stuff they were giving me for a dental health unit I was creating. I heard it on the radio, and immediately drove to DH's (then bf) apartment. When he didn't answer, I just went back to my dorm and watched the coverage all day with my roommates. I had to work the front desk that afternoon and the lobby of our dorm was filled with girls (all girls dorm) watching the tv there, too. I still remember it like it was yesterday... so sad!

wendyj · September 2011

It was the first week of the school year. I was running around like a crazy person, as usual at the beginning of the year, and stopped into my secretary's office for something. She had a small TV on in the office, and another staff member came in and said, "OMG, a plane just went into the WTC." She was worried because her parents were supposed to be flying home from FL that day. I watched for a few minutes in disbelief as everything happened.

I remember there was a lot of panic - parents freaking out and coming to get their kids from school, and people, including myself, just walking around feeling numb with disbelief. I went to college in NYC, and still had friends there, some that even worked in the Towers. Thankfully, they were all safe.

MelissaSue81 · September 2011

I was at college. I had a class that morning, but it ended up being cancelled. I actually think it might have been one of those things where we went to class and the teacher just never showed. At that point, no one knew anything had happened. So I walked back to my dorm, and there were two guys, that I didn't know well, but knew their names who lived on the corner of the hallway that I turned down to get to my room, at the top of the stairs. Their door was open and they either said something to me about what had happened, or they called me into their room. I stood in their doorway watching the TV for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure at that point it was just the first plane and they thought it was an accident... So I went back to my room.. and I turned the TV on the news, but fell back asleep. When I woke up like an hour later , the other planes had crashed and it was clear it was no longer an accident.

TinyPinkBug · September 2011

I was sleeping on the couch at home (I rented a small house by myself at the time and was afraid to sleep upstairs alone), I woke up right around 9 and turned on the TV just in time for the news coverage to start. Once the reports of planes in PA and the pentagon came in, I got scared. I called my BF (now my DH) who works next to the Syracuse airport and asked him to leave work, he wouldn't. Then my neighbor, who was a Sherriff who has worked on the bomb squad told me there were several areas in Syracuse that are considered high risk for terror threats as he was leaving for work that day. I got all sorts of nervous because I lived less than a mile from SU and was concerned for my own safety. I didn't have any classes that day but did have to work at a local restaurant. We didn't have one single customer that night.

dle927 · September 2011

I was at work at a museum in Owego, NY. I had moved from DC a few months before that so was obviously worried about my friends. I was such a mess that my boss actually made someone turn off the radio so I would stop worrying. We all then went home and I stayed glued to the tv and internet, frantically emailing friends.

My DH (who I did not know at the time) worked for United Airlines and had to stay at the airport for a couple days in anticipation of the ground-stop being lifted so people could fly again.

aSp6907 · September 2011

I was a senior in high school. We were leaving the Harkness program when my friend told me what had happened. We took the longer way back to school past the airport and it was so quiet. Most of the planes had been grounded at that point. In English our teachers had it on the tv's in class and the gym teachers pulled a tv into the gym. When I got home from school my father had the news on. I remember all the morning news anchors were still on as was Janet and Nick on Kiss when I got home from school. I think my parents had it on all night.

abba916 · September 2011

I was in bed and my stepmonster came and woke me up- saying someone crashed an airplane into a building and she wasnt sure if it was joke...I had gotten home late from my second job and was super f-ing pissed she wanted me to come to the TV to "explain" what she was seeing...

I got to the Tv as the second plane hit and I was like- "yeah I dont think thats a joke since your are watching CNN..."- I went down to the red cross with a friend of mine and we gave blood...(it was all i could think of to do)

I also called Dh- he was just a friend at the time but he had been down there for some work stuff and I couldnt remember when he left- thankfully he had left on Monday- if not, my life would have been a lot different today...

battybtags · September 2011

My Mom and I were just getting to the gym to take a class and the instructor walked by with her hand to her head saying "Oh my God, we're under attack! The WTC has been hit" We stayed for class so didn't get the real scoop until we got home-the 2nd tower (I think) got hit when we walked in.

Funny story-DH had just moved into our house (he was single then)-I think he closed on 9/10. So on 9/11 he had no idea what was happening since his cable, etc wasnt hooked up yet. I guess on 9/11, the cable guy came to install things and when they turned on the TV,the guy stayed for over an hour-both of them glued to the set!

BethPSU · September 2011

I was a sophomore in college. I woke up and on my way out to go to my first class my roommate's dad called to tell her a plane hit the WTC. We quickly looked online and it was before the 1st bldg. fell. I thought it was just a random small plane or something and headed to class. I sat through an entire computer science recitation and then while I was heading back across campus I started to see people running and all going into the student union. I went in and they had the giant movie screen in an auditorium playing with the news and it was just as the 2nd tower fell. I watched for a few minutes and then started going back to my dorm when my dad called to tell me to be safe and that there was a plane somewhere in central PA that they thought was also hijacked. I was so scared then and everyone around me was scurrying and talking on their cell phones. Penn State is exactly in the middle of PA so hearing Central PA I was sure the plane was coming for PSU.

My roommates and I spent most of the day in line waiting to give blood. They sent us home at 10pm because they couldn't accommodate the masses trying to donate. I spent the night at my bf's (now DH) apartment. It was surreal.

kac0807 · September 2011

I was a senior in college and getting ready for work that morning when the live update came on the Today show! The first plane had hit and while they were breaking the news of that one is when the 2nd plane hit. I just rememeber how chilling it was. I was waitressing at the time and remember I still went to work that day but everyone was glued to the tv the whole time....both cutomers and employees.

mrsoc · September 2011

I was working. Someone came to tell us that the World Trade Center had been hit. It did not immediately register to me how tragic this would be. We went and found a TV and saw the second plane hit. We continued to watch and I remember for the first time in my life, I did not feel safe at all. A bunch of us went down and donated blood downtown and then I was glued to the TV whenever I got a chance for days. My Dad and I healed our relationship after that day.

cm2007 · September 2011

I was in college. I was actually getting ready for school when I heard on the news about the first plane. I remember sitting there and watching the next plane hit. I called my mom at work because she worked at Ford World Headquarters at the time and told her.

I lived near the airport and it was very weird not seeing or hearing planes as I was driving. I went to campus and stood in the library with a few other classmates watching the news while waiting for class to start. That's where I was when I saw the towers fall. We all just wanted to go home and be with our families and we couldn't. It was the first day of class and the policy was if you weren't there your spot would be taken away and given to someone on the wait list. We even doubled checked if this policy would be in effect with everything going on. My college was the only one in the area that stayed open. All businesses and schools closed.

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