Where were you? 15 years ago
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I was in the kitchen washing dishes when my teen son walked in. He had the radio on while he was getting ready for school or work. He came into the kitchen, kind of laughing and said "some @$$ just flew his plane into the World Trade Centre". I asked if it was on purpose. He assumed it was some two seater private plane and the guy didn't know how to fly.
DS went back to getting ready and I went back to cleaning.
Then he came back out....white...and said that another plane had hit the other tower. We knew then it couldn't be an accident, but we hadn't turned in the tv, so we didn't really grasp how devastating it was.
~~~~
But it was a long way from us. And I had laundry plans. Stuck my little one in the stroller, packed up the bundle buggy and off we went.
The laundry mat has a tv. Usually it was set to cartoons in the morning. But that day it was on CNN. People walking by would stop in to watch a bit, then off they'd go.
A man came into the laundry mat. He was wearing headphones (and singing) and pushing a big cart with cases of pop. He was completely oblivious to what was going on. He filled the pop machine, locked it up again, and as he turned he saw about a dozen people standing in front of the tv, all staring at him. He looked a bit uncomfortable, being stared at by the crowd. He removed his headphones and looked at the tv. He asked what that was. Someone said the twin towers. He said isn't there supposed to be two? What happened? Someone said they had been hit by planes. He said where's the other one? Isn't there supposed to be two? And the second one fell.
His legs kind of went rubbery....he held himself up by holding the cart. And to no-one in particular he asked "who would do such a thing?" And one quiet voice replied "terrorists" as everyone stared at him. And what I saw was the absolute and complete terror in HIS eyes. And in that instant, that's when I KNEW the world had changed. Because I had never seen a person in a turban be so terrified in my city.
DS went back to getting ready and I went back to cleaning.
Then he came back out....white...and said that another plane had hit the other tower. We knew then it couldn't be an accident, but we hadn't turned in the tv, so we didn't really grasp how devastating it was.
~~~~
But it was a long way from us. And I had laundry plans. Stuck my little one in the stroller, packed up the bundle buggy and off we went.
The laundry mat has a tv. Usually it was set to cartoons in the morning. But that day it was on CNN. People walking by would stop in to watch a bit, then off they'd go.
A man came into the laundry mat. He was wearing headphones (and singing) and pushing a big cart with cases of pop. He was completely oblivious to what was going on. He filled the pop machine, locked it up again, and as he turned he saw about a dozen people standing in front of the tv, all staring at him. He looked a bit uncomfortable, being stared at by the crowd. He removed his headphones and looked at the tv. He asked what that was. Someone said the twin towers. He said isn't there supposed to be two? What happened? Someone said they had been hit by planes. He said where's the other one? Isn't there supposed to be two? And the second one fell.
His legs kind of went rubbery....he held himself up by holding the cart. And to no-one in particular he asked "who would do such a thing?" And one quiet voice replied "terrorists" as everyone stared at him. And what I saw was the absolute and complete terror in HIS eyes. And in that instant, that's when I KNEW the world had changed. Because I had never seen a person in a turban be so terrified in my city.
I was at work in the warehouse launching couriers. Walked into the dispatch area and saw a plane had hit the first tower. As I was sitting there trying to take it all in, the second plane hit. What a horrible day.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
I was in Ottawa and still in the military - National Defence Medical Centre
To me that was the beginning of a downward spiral that lasted from 2001 until 2004 when I went back to college to get training as a medical transcriptionist.
To be honest I had other life issues going on - moving, death of Mother, father with Alzheimer's who nobody wanted to take into their homes (even though I have a sister and two brothers) (and even breaking up with a guy who turned out to be unfaithful to me, to top it all off).
Oh dear - sorry to turn this into a personal story but honest to God it was a horrible three years and it all seems to stem from those two buildings going down in flames.
I've met others who are not even from New York i.e. other Canadians who were drastically affected by the incident. It seems as if the whole world was on edge after that.
...I was in my vehicle, getting ready to leave for a broadcast gig, when I heard the talk show hosts on the radio discussing something in frightened, confused and somber tones...I jacked the volume, heard what had happened-and in a very gobsmacked way, wandered back into my home, told Tracy what was transpiring-and we mutually decided, without ever voicing it-to go get our kids from school and face it as a family...Sis was 14, Seth 7 and Harrison 6.....the two youngest were the hardest to try to explain the unexplainable hatred to, but a little piece of all of us died that day with the victims....
I had that day off from work, and was chatting with someone on messenger, when they told me to trun my tv on.
Then I saw what was happening, and was telling them what I was seeing as it happened. All that person had was a radio.
Then I saw what was happening, and was telling them what I was seeing as it happened. All that person had was a radio.
My very first real job was on the 16th floor of tower 1. I started a new job, only 2 blocks away, in January of 2001. I was working 12pm-8pm shifts back then. My parents woke me up at around 9:30 that morning. I never made it to work that day and ended up watching the whole thing on TV. Stayed home on Wednesday as well, but worked Thursday and Friday from our datacenter in Newark, NJ. We were allowed back in our building on Saturday. I had to walk through a number of checkpoints showing my work ID to get to the office. A number of my friends and coworkers had a few close calls that day - one was scheduled to go to WTC at 11am to replace a server; another one went looking for his brother, who worked very close to one of the towers (he came back covered in dust and without one shoe); a friend is alive today because he got sh!tfaced the night before and was running late. Debris from the fallen towers reached the building where I lived in Brooklyn - about 7-8 miles away.
I still have a hard time talking about it. That day destroyed an innocence in me that just still hurts so much.
I was in South Carolina for a conference for work. I'd flown there the day before. At a break in the conference, they informed us there had been a terrorist attack in NY at the WTC. They stated that they were going to continue the conference (for 2 more days) but folks who wanted to leave would be refunded. Their reasoning was, "Don't let the terrorists win." I stumbled to my room in the hotel and after several attempts, got through to my husband. He told me that his mom had already heard from his uncle who worked at the NYSE and he was ok, but of course he lost many good friends. My mom was in Utah for a work event. She and some co-workers rented a car and drove back to Charlotte, NC to get their own cars to drive home. They made it home 4 days later. There were 2 people at my conference who had driven down from D.C. One man had a brother who was at the Pentagon and he wanted to rush home to check on his family, and they offered me to ride with them. My husband met us at an exit off of I-95 just as you cross into Virginia.
I will never forget that drive. We were mostly silent, listening to the radio. I remember at one overpass, there was a man standing there, holding up the American flag. When we got back into town, I cringed each time I heard a siren. Ran a hot bath, filled up a tumbler of bourbon and sat and cried in the tub. We went down to the beach the next day. Our friends from Canada were staying there and the plan had been for us to come down later to meet them, so it was just a few days early. They had watched the coverage non-stop and just kept talking about how surreal it seemed. They went back home that Saturday and crossed the border around 11pm with no hassle, just very watchful patrol.
I still have the newspapers that were published that week.
I was in South Carolina for a conference for work. I'd flown there the day before. At a break in the conference, they informed us there had been a terrorist attack in NY at the WTC. They stated that they were going to continue the conference (for 2 more days) but folks who wanted to leave would be refunded. Their reasoning was, "Don't let the terrorists win." I stumbled to my room in the hotel and after several attempts, got through to my husband. He told me that his mom had already heard from his uncle who worked at the NYSE and he was ok, but of course he lost many good friends. My mom was in Utah for a work event. She and some co-workers rented a car and drove back to Charlotte, NC to get their own cars to drive home. They made it home 4 days later. There were 2 people at my conference who had driven down from D.C. One man had a brother who was at the Pentagon and he wanted to rush home to check on his family, and they offered me to ride with them. My husband met us at an exit off of I-95 just as you cross into Virginia.
I will never forget that drive. We were mostly silent, listening to the radio. I remember at one overpass, there was a man standing there, holding up the American flag. When we got back into town, I cringed each time I heard a siren. Ran a hot bath, filled up a tumbler of bourbon and sat and cried in the tub. We went down to the beach the next day. Our friends from Canada were staying there and the plan had been for us to come down later to meet them, so it was just a few days early. They had watched the coverage non-stop and just kept talking about how surreal it seemed. They went back home that Saturday and crossed the border around 11pm with no hassle, just very watchful patrol.
I still have the newspapers that were published that week.
I was at work in a tech support center running operations. we had a somewhat irate customer on the line whom I was talking down from the edge as the news broke on the little TV set I had at my desk. The customer was from Jersey City. I asked if she heard the news yet. She said no. I asked if she could see Manhattan and she said "yeah, very clearly". I told her to open her window and look. She did so and gasped. She started saying "no" over and over. Then she said her brotehr worked down by the Trade Center. Just as we are discussing this, the second plane hits and a second or two later, the phones go dead in our call center. Our call center was switched through the giant Sprint center that was housed in one of the WTC buildings and it was cut off by the strikes/fires.
We all gathered in the break room and watched in stunned silence as it unfolded. Because of the nature of a few things located in our building, plus the uncertainty of whether or not more attacks elsewhere were coming, they evacuated our building a bit later and sent everyone home. I went and got my kids from daycare/school and went home. I didn't sleep much that night. I stayed up most of the night watching the coverage.
We all gathered in the break room and watched in stunned silence as it unfolded. Because of the nature of a few things located in our building, plus the uncertainty of whether or not more attacks elsewhere were coming, they evacuated our building a bit later and sent everyone home. I went and got my kids from daycare/school and went home. I didn't sleep much that night. I stayed up most of the night watching the coverage.
I was at work listening to the radio. I heard that a plane had crashed into on of the twin towers. I thought what a horrible accident. I then heard the second plan had hit. I was going into different business for my clients. I saw it on the big screen television that they had in the business. It just never seemed real, but to see the flames and firefighters was undescribed. I think most people who were alive on that day, held their loved ones a little more tighter.
Started as a normal day, TV on watching the Today Show, settling the critters. Passed by the TV to hear a discussion of a possible small plane hitting the World Trade Center. Stopped to watch the coverage, only to see the second plane hit. Called daughter at work to make sure all ok. Stayed glued to the TV for the remainder of the day. Had family in NYC, one working the transit system, and my mom was alone in her home in NJ. That was the next call. Worry heightened has they began to ground all flights. Took days to contact all NYC relatives. The world moved on that day and not in a good way.
I had worked a 12-hour shift the night before at the PD, 2pm to 2am. Hadn't went to sleep until about 5am that morning. Shift supervisor called as soon as the things started happening. The Chief called an "all hands on deck" type of order so everyone reported to the station. As I was getting dressed I watched the second hit on the towers and I remember I had been carrying my boots from the closet to put them on and just dropped them on the floor, and stared for a few minutes before getting ready, almost putting my boots on the wrong feet because I couldn't concentrate. When I got to the PD it was chilling to see all the SWAT guys getting ready just in case. No one was talking much, which was weird for the PD. Usually the minute you hit the door someone was making fun of you or joking around, but that day it was all business.
I walked into the 911 center and the boards were lit up across the screen with fights at gas stations, people freaking out about real or imagined aircraft overhead, it was nuts. There were all kinds of crazy calls that day/night. One particular one I remember is a 911 call in which a group of guys were out in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the U of A campus cheering and holding up the flag of a certain foreign country telling everyone it was a "great day". A guy had called 911 because this group of 5-6 guys was being quickly surrounded by the rest of the members of the apartment complex, passers-by and several others. This much larger group was not happy and it quickly escalated but stopped just short of all the residents beating the crap out of the other group. I never really understood why you'd want to stand out in front of a 100 or more people on a horrific day like that and shove it in their faces. There were a bunch of fist fights at gas stations all that day and night also. Someone got the bright idea of jacking up the gas prices all around the city and pretty soon gas was going for $5.00 a gallon. People were getting into fights because other motorists were filling up their tanks instead of just buying a certain amount and everyone behind them began to get scared the pumps were going to run dry. I heard later on that several gas stations were fined by the AR Attorney General's office for price gouging.
I also remember watching F-16 Falcons on CAP overhead that afternoon/evening from the Fort Smith Air National Guard unit 50 miles south of us. For some reason, that was the eeriest part of the whole day. I heard later from one of our guys who was in the AR National Guard that said jets were patrolling fully armed with air-to-air missiles.
I walked into the 911 center and the boards were lit up across the screen with fights at gas stations, people freaking out about real or imagined aircraft overhead, it was nuts. There were all kinds of crazy calls that day/night. One particular one I remember is a 911 call in which a group of guys were out in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the U of A campus cheering and holding up the flag of a certain foreign country telling everyone it was a "great day". A guy had called 911 because this group of 5-6 guys was being quickly surrounded by the rest of the members of the apartment complex, passers-by and several others. This much larger group was not happy and it quickly escalated but stopped just short of all the residents beating the crap out of the other group. I never really understood why you'd want to stand out in front of a 100 or more people on a horrific day like that and shove it in their faces. There were a bunch of fist fights at gas stations all that day and night also. Someone got the bright idea of jacking up the gas prices all around the city and pretty soon gas was going for $5.00 a gallon. People were getting into fights because other motorists were filling up their tanks instead of just buying a certain amount and everyone behind them began to get scared the pumps were going to run dry. I heard later on that several gas stations were fined by the AR Attorney General's office for price gouging.
I also remember watching F-16 Falcons on CAP overhead that afternoon/evening from the Fort Smith Air National Guard unit 50 miles south of us. For some reason, that was the eeriest part of the whole day. I heard later from one of our guys who was in the AR National Guard that said jets were patrolling fully armed with air-to-air missiles.
I was still working then but on my last day of vacation. Staycation, but I was feeling happy. Pregnant with Evan, had just seen hubby out the door about 20 min before. Brandon was getting ready to leave for school and I was sitting on the couch folding socks. I know he was still home when the second plane hit and it was clear it was not an accident, the bus came just a few minutes later. I don't know what was happening in my head, I did not think about keeping him home. It did not even occur to me that I should, or that I even could do that. I just could not wrap my head around what I was seeing...it was like that all day. Things would dawn on me a little at a time. First, the people on the airplanes. Then, the people in the buildings. Then the police and firefighters who were going in the buildings. And all the people who did not come out...all hit me at different points in the day. I don't think I could process it all at once.
I did not move from the couch except for at one point I couldn't stand being alone anymore and walked to my grandparent's house, only to find them not there, so went right back home to the tv. We only had one car, so couldn't go get Brandon from school once it dawned on me that I should have kept him home and our phone was on the fritz, too. Had a wiring problem, so getting it to "connect" was hit or miss, and that day it was not connecting at all. Hubby didn't know anything was going on until his lunch break and they wouldn't let anyone leave.
When Brandon got home from school we walked back over to my grandparent's house together, and they were home then. Stayed there until Scott was on his way home that evening.
I did not move from the couch except for at one point I couldn't stand being alone anymore and walked to my grandparent's house, only to find them not there, so went right back home to the tv. We only had one car, so couldn't go get Brandon from school once it dawned on me that I should have kept him home and our phone was on the fritz, too. Had a wiring problem, so getting it to "connect" was hit or miss, and that day it was not connecting at all. Hubby didn't know anything was going on until his lunch break and they wouldn't let anyone leave.
When Brandon got home from school we walked back over to my grandparent's house together, and they were home then. Stayed there until Scott was on his way home that evening.
Don't know how I missed you're from Fayetteville. We were practically neighbors! I spent a lot of time around Tahlequah and Stillwell over the years. Also Ft Smith, Hot Springs and Siloam Springs. I've been to Fayetteville a lot too. Also used to go up to Bentonville to do training for Wal Mart employees on various IT topics. Small world.
Don't know how I missed you're from Fayetteville. We were practically neighbors! I spent a lot of time around Tahlequah and Stillwell over the years. Also Ft Smith, Hot Springs and Siloam Springs. I've been to Fayetteville a lot too. Also used to go up to Bentonville to do training for Wal Mart employees on various IT topics. Small world.
Don't know how I missed you're from Fayetteville. We were practically neighbors! I spent a lot of time around Tahlequah and Stillwell over the years. Also Ft Smith, Hot Springs and Siloam Springs. I've been to Fayetteville a lot too. Also used to go up to Bentonville to do training for Wal Mart employees on various IT topics. Small world.
Definitely. I'm originally from about 60 miles south of Hot Springs, a very small town no one has heard of and probably will never hear of..lol, Wal-Mart is big business around here for sure. Been to Tahlequah and Stillwell both several times for training of one sort or another and I used to go shoot with a friend of mine right on the Arkansas/Oklahoma border near Westville, OK. You from that area or just lived there previously? I saw you live in FL currently.
Don't know how I missed you're from Fayetteville. We were practically neighbors! I spent a lot of time around Tahlequah and Stillwell over the years. Also Ft Smith, Hot Springs and Siloam Springs. I've been to Fayetteville a lot too. Also used to go up to Bentonville to do training for Wal Mart employees on various IT topics. Small world.
We were just passing through Fayetteville 2 weeks ago on our way to SC and stopped there for lunch. Nice little place.
Not a bad place to live, but not as cold as I'd like. Warm most of the time...
I was actually born in Berkeley, CA, but my mom is originally from Oklahoma and we moved there when I was around 5 or 6 (we went back and forth a couple time during that year; 76-77). We first lived in Bartlesville and Nowata, before moving to my mom's home town of Pawhuska. We lived there until 1984 and then moved to Skiatook. From there I lived in and around Tulsa until 2003 when we moved to Florida. I had a lot of friends that attended NSU and also other who just live in that area (Sallisaw, too), and some up at NEO in Miami, OK.
When I got home that day I tried calling my husband. He was away on business for the week. His original plans were a day here, a day there, etc., flying all over the west coast. When I was home watching the news and they talked about other planes being involved I panicked. Seemed to me, diverting a plane from the west coast of Canada was pretty doable.
So I started calling him. And calling. And calling. And it just kept going straight through to voice mail. I searched and could not find his schedule.
It turned out, he had no flights that day. He had been down in a mine somewhere, then drove to Winnipeg where he had a room booked for two nights. Big meeting. Being down in a mine, he knew nothing about what was going on.
He gets to Winnipeg and they tried to double his rate because people were stranded. Then when they realized he had co-workers also with reserved rooms, they tried to force them to share rooms, three to a room, but each paying full price. DH hit the roof. And because of his position in his company, and how much business he gives them, they agreed to downgrade his room to a smaller one, and lower his price, and other employees shared rooms, but at the regular rate for shared rooms. (They were willing to share rooms so people weren't out on the street.)
When they announced flights were taking off, he refused to sign out of his room until he was sure he could get on. Good thing he waited because they then cancelled it. Next day he did sign out and went to the airport. But they kept changing their minds whether or not flights were taking off.
He and 3 other guys decided they'd drive back together. Just rent a car and take turns driving. Before they actually managed to rent a car (they were getting hard to find too) their flight was called. He said it was a really weird flight. Usually nobody talks other than an occasional "sorry" if someone bumps into you. But that flight, people got chatty. Guess it helped with the nerves.
~~~
come to think of it, last week was the first time since that he was nervous flying. He said he hasn't seen so much security and big guns even at the international airports....until last week.
So I started calling him. And calling. And calling. And it just kept going straight through to voice mail. I searched and could not find his schedule.
It turned out, he had no flights that day. He had been down in a mine somewhere, then drove to Winnipeg where he had a room booked for two nights. Big meeting. Being down in a mine, he knew nothing about what was going on.
He gets to Winnipeg and they tried to double his rate because people were stranded. Then when they realized he had co-workers also with reserved rooms, they tried to force them to share rooms, three to a room, but each paying full price. DH hit the roof. And because of his position in his company, and how much business he gives them, they agreed to downgrade his room to a smaller one, and lower his price, and other employees shared rooms, but at the regular rate for shared rooms. (They were willing to share rooms so people weren't out on the street.)
When they announced flights were taking off, he refused to sign out of his room until he was sure he could get on. Good thing he waited because they then cancelled it. Next day he did sign out and went to the airport. But they kept changing their minds whether or not flights were taking off.
He and 3 other guys decided they'd drive back together. Just rent a car and take turns driving. Before they actually managed to rent a car (they were getting hard to find too) their flight was called. He said it was a really weird flight. Usually nobody talks other than an occasional "sorry" if someone bumps into you. But that flight, people got chatty. Guess it helped with the nerves.
~~~
come to think of it, last week was the first time since that he was nervous flying. He said he hasn't seen so much security and big guns even at the international airports....until last week.