Where were you...

[Baal]

On September 11th? I thought this would be a good topic to start. There must be some good stories out there about that day.

I was at school when at 10:00 (9:00 Eastern) people starting talking about a plane crashing into one of the two towers in New York. I had a vague recolection of what these towers were and what they looked like..but I just thought "Wow, how dumb was that..."

Then around lunch time I heard that they think it was terrorists. Not really knowing of Terrorism before besides of when I played CS (I had started playing that summer). So I kind of pictured guys running around with AK-47's...

Around the time of school ending the principal send out a notice about what happened and to watch the news on TV with my parents since some of it can be scary etc etc.

I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Which is where most of the diverted planes from around the world were sent. The runways were full of planes. I used to have pictures of the airport...but I don't have them anymore. Also the two high schools in my area were housing people that were in the planes.

So, yea, where were you that day? I guess some of you were just getting out of school when it happened since a lot of you are in Europe.

 

[Majestic XII]

I heard it from mom when she picked me up from school that day, she said a plan just crashed in World Trade Center and it was all over TV. I got home... sat down and watched. Channel 4 had CNN on the whole day. I also got spammed on my ICQ list (300 people on it from a forum im active in) Everyone was sending info.

Short answer: I was home watching TV during the whole thing. I thought i was pretty interesting, ive never seen anything like it. I didnt feel sad or anything, but then again... i live on the other side of the ocean.

Our "Minister of Foreign Affairs" got killed on the same date 2 years after so its more about that than about WTC now.

 

[Dedalus]

i'd just finished college. met my ex-girlfriend at the front gates. i just had a physics class, she just had an economics class. i saw her class start coming out of the door at the far end of the school. they sauntered down, unusually solemn. she came up to me, usual greetings. started walking to the bus stop, 'have you heard?', 'wassat then?'...'one of the world trade towers has been hit by a plane...', 'shit...'. went home thinking about the repurcussions of this. switched on the telly to 'second world trade tower hit by plane, pentagon hit by plane, terrorist attack'. it was at this point i browned my trousers, because they showed the attacks in full colour and everything. first time i'd seen anything like that.

don't think i'll forget that day for a long while. remember almost every detail of it.

 

[Kyorisu]

I don't know where I was that day, but I remember waking up turning my T.V. on expecting cartoons to see a news report about a plane crashing into the towers. I fell back asleep and missed school.

 

[Epyon]

Well on September 11th i was in 5th grade, still in elementary school, so the teachers wouldnt tell us what happen. The way that i knew, and many other people knew, that something ws wrong was becuase all of the teachers looked upset and a lot of kids were going home. (i live like 15 minutes out of manhattan) So while i was going to lunch there was rumor that a plane has crashed into a building in New York City. That was the last thing i thought happend, so it was hard to beleive it. But during last period the principal came on the loud speaker and said that their has been a tragic even in New York City, which then made that rumor become true. When i got home my mom told me exaclty what happend and i saw it all over the news. I was lucky enough to not have anyone that i know that worked in the Twin Towers, so i didnt cry or anything, i was a little upset, but mostly mad of what happend. but i cant imagaine what the people who knew people that worked in the Towers felt.

 

[AzzMan]

I remember I was gettin my picture taken in 11th grade. We just got back and I heard a couple people saying that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I didn't believe them, until we turned on the TV and saw it all over the news.

 

[Eejit]

It was when I came home from school. I was pretty surprised. I was more interested in how many died than who did it, though sadly not all the TV reporters and later the pundits seemed to share that view.

 

[slicktick]

I was in English class with Mrs. Hegg, that is all we did that day was watch the TV in school. I knew when they announced it over the PA system, the first thing I remember saying was "those ***king bastards" which was followed by worry with people I knew traveling.

 

[Vigilante]

I was in school, in my 'career research' class with Mrs. Bindel in 9th grade. My teacher got a call on the classroom phone and went "oh my god", and went to turn on the TV. We watched the new thats period, and for the rest of the day. We didnt do one bit of work during that day. When I came home I played Starseige tribes a little, but i couldnt play becuase everyone was talking about the attacks. Then I pretty much just watched tv for the rest of the night.

 

[Mr.Reak]

On TV. Sadly I live in California, and to no surprise most of people didn’t really care, went by their normal day activities. I was bit shocked, but after a week of turning TV on and seeing the same footage again and again, I was cursing out US media.

 

[Baal]

I was only in junior high (Grade 8), so we didn't watch TV especially since my junior high wasn't rich.

If I had of been a year older I would of been in high school and we would of pulled down the screen and watched TV on the LCD Projectors.

 

[Foxtrot]

I was in 8th grade and in homeroom we were watching the TV and it showed a plane crash into a building a bunch of times and were all arguing if it was an accident or not(because the people on the news said they didnt know for sure yet). I think I might have seen the 2nd plane hit but I don't remember too well. For rest of the day the TVs were on in all of our classes and all we did the whole day was watch the news. God, this reminds me how much of an asshole Michael Moore is.

 

[nw909]

I had just woken up, turned on the tv, and proceeded to say "wtf"

Then I went to school, my friends and I were talking about it, then I went home and saw that the second tower fell (I only saw the first before I went to school)

 

[Baal]

I forgot to mention, I came home right after school and called my dad, who works at the Airport, and asked him if he heard what happened. Obviously he did, they were all watching the news the whole day, as well as dozens of planes landing on the runway.

He doesn't have a job to do without planes because he maintains the equipment that helps the planes land like radar, glide path etc.

So I just turned on the TV and watched the rest of the night.

 

[brink's]

My mom had just waked me up and told me that a plane had crashed into the WTC and it being early and all I went back to sleep not even thinking about what she said. When i woke i turned on the tv and realised what had happenedn went to school and heard updates all day. I felt pretty sad for the people who didn't make it out alive.

 

[MrMethane]

I was at work, helping a co-worker with his computer. I got an SMS, saying that two planes had crashed into the WTC, from my brother who was home sick. Later he sent two more as the towers collapsed. I still have them.

The first thing I said was "Jesus ****ing Christ, Bush is going to start WWIII!"

Sadly, I think I was right.

 

[Baal]

gah, if you don't have your location in your profile can you leave it in your post?

I'd like to get a sense of where everyones reactions, but it helps if I know where you're from.

 

[Cylleruion2012]

I have a fairly interesting story: I was there from the beginning.

I walked into my classroom, Social Studies, 2 minutes after the second plane hit the towers. It was Mr. Wormack's class, I was in 7th grade. I had gotten there early, and the only other people in the class were my best friend Will and my teacher. I started to tell Will something, I don't remember what, but as I began speaking he just pointed at the TV, which was next to the door facing the other way. His eyes never left the screen.

I walked forward and looked at the TV to see what he was so transfixed by... and I'll never forget that first image. It sits in my mind, as clear as if I was looking at it now - it was zoomed in on one of the towers. Black smoke was billowing out, and the reporter was saying "got hit this morning about 20 minutes ago, followed by a second airplane just 5 minutes ago."

I said oh my ****ing god fairly loudly, and my teacher, usually pretty strict about language, didn't seem to notice. I stared at the screen for the next 45 minutes, in a trance. I saw live on television as the first tower collapsed, killing dozens of firemen and hundreds of people still inside. That's the other image that won't leave my mind - the camera was zoomed in close on the screen, and suddenly the wall seemed to disentigrate into black dust and smoke. The reporter hadn't noticed and kept talking for a few seconds, before the camera started zooming out and the tower was falling.

After a while, we were ordered by the principal to turn off the TV - we were the only class in the school that had happened to find out what was going on, everyone else was oblivious. The principal noticed us when she was walking by. As soon as she left the room, Mr. Wormack turned the TV back on.

We watched for 45 minutes before we decided to turn the television off. We talked about it for the other 45 minutes (in junior high/middle school our core classes were 90 minutes).

After that, I remember going to my next class and telling people what had happened. They didn't believe me for a while, but eventually they could tell that I wasn't lying. My teacher walked in late, and he had been crying. I asked him if he knew what happened, and he said yes, but I'm not supposed to tell you. I said we knew and we started talking about it. The school didn't want people to panic so they tried to stop people from knowing.

I can understand that... it pissed me off when I heard that a local elementary school (where the oldest kids are 10-11) had watched it all day long - including the young kids, aged 5-6 and stuff.

I'll never forget that day. The country was unified as one, and the rest of the world actually felt sympathy.

Of course, our wonderful president decided to use this ****ing situation for his advantage and personal agenda and declared a "war on terrorism"... a war in which he happened to do a lot of stuff not involving terrorism.

 

[Baal]

Good Post.

 

[Idolon]

On the bus on my way home from school.
It was a buss filled mostly with students so it was kind of noisy.
The buss driver turned up the volume on the radio so that everybody heard.
Then, silence...

 

[CrazyHarij]

I remember coming home from school, installing my old Deus Ex again, struggling with some bug in the first level.. That time the computer was right behind the TV and my mother told me to watch, one of the news channels showed it, I didn't care much but then the other plane crashed into it etc.. It was very freaky, and a cable channel had CNN for free that week, I remember my sister watched it like 24/7.

 

[Baal]

On the bus on my way home from school.
It was a buss filled mostly with students so it was kind of noisy.
The buss driver turned up the volume on the radio so that everybody heard.
Then, silence...

How old were you?

 

[Rascall]

Was playing Max Payne when I heard my sister saying something like "They´re bombing the USA".

 

[Idolon]

How old were you?

I was 18 at the time.

 

[Revisedsoul]

amazingly i just laughed when i first saw it because i thought it was some joke/prank/movie stunt but when i came to i felt bad about the crash but it didnt really affect me much.

 

[MrMethane]

gah, if you don't have your location in your profile can you leave it in your post?

I'd like to get a sense of where everyones reactions, but it helps if I know where you're from.

Sweden. As level headed as I like to think I am, that probably would not have been the first thing I said, had I been an American.

 

[Dougy]

I was in school, didnt hear a thing about it till i got home.

i walked into my living room and my dad was watching the news.... BBC was showing the crash over and over again.....

i just remember thinking "some1 is going to get raped for this"

 

[Foxtrot]

Thank god Bush was the president, Gore would have surrendered hahahaha.

 

[torso boy]

i was in one class and someone said that a plane crashed into the world trade center. I went into my next class and my teacher was watching the tv silently not paying attention to anyone...i looked up and saw the second plane crash and the towers crumble down. I went through the rest of the day in disbelief, and a little later i heard about the pentagon and the fourth plane

 

[Prince of China]

I was at school and my teacher and classmates started talking about some kind of accident. I didn't know it was the terrorist attack...I thought they were talking about some train

 

[staddydaddy]

I got out of the car while i was being dropped off from school and one of my friends told me that a plane had hit the WTC . I knew it had happened before with a small cesna plane but I didnt know how big it was. Then right before third period my friend came back to me and said that a second had hit and i remember exactly what I said to my friend: "If a second one hit, that shit was orchestrated" We all spent first period watching the news about the plane. I remember loads of rumors were going around about car bombs in the capital and all this crap. Then I remember that I had heard one of the towers was leaning and then I later learned that it collapsed. The whole mood of that day was like disbelief, because like it seemed like out of the shadows everywhere, we were being attacked. The whole deal with planes hitting the WTC, pentagon, car bombs (which turned about to be false) made it seem like America was under a full blown attack.

I remember that night my whole family watched alot of news and everyone on gamesnet IRC (I believe) had like #america and #USA channels and everyone put like tags on their names like [USA-TX]Dan9-AoE- where they were from. It was really cool because like everone was united. I remember also there were loads of rumors and stuff that was flying around. Alot was about Nostradomus' professions. Also there was some guy on some google forums I believe that was like "yall are all going to be sorry in a few weeks and stuff" It was really erie. I took a screenshot of everyone in the IRC channel with their names and stuff. I'll try and find it and post it. I live in Texas by the way. I remeber that work places were let our early too for fear that other buildings would be hit.

 

[Steelwind]

I was at work at Reliant Energy in downtown Houston. All of the people in the IT department were huddled over computers and tv monitors. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Several people who had family in NYC left work early to try and get in touch with loved ones. After the second plane hit, rumors were circulating that there could be possible attacks in other cities. A bit of panic set in. Then the Pentagon was hit. Again, more panic. It wasn't long before we got the announcement to evacuate the building. We were all sent home and didn't return to work for a few days. It was something I never thought I'd have experienced. I hope we don't ever again either.

 

[Baal]

I'm worried about the Olympics....something bad is going to happen in Athens it seems.

 

[Cylleruion2012]

Thank god Bush was the president, Gore would have surrendered hahahaha.

Which may have been better than what Bush is doing.

 

[Nickzer_Teh_Pwn]

Id like to here people in America's recollection of the way people of the Islamic faith were treated in their school's after this day, I've heard some pretty shocking stories of racism.

In response I only heard about at like 12:00, I was at home at the time because I couldn't be bothered to go in and do D+T as I had finished it already. But I turned in the television around 12:00 and put it in BBC News 24, I remember thinking originally, "Those scumbags" but as my mood lessened I began to see the immense amount of propoganda streaming off of my television, no effort was made by the respective News Companies to hear opinions of Muslims who were shocked and outraged by the event, indeed, all that appeared where falsified, fake, zionist made images of Palestinians 'celebrating'.

When I heard that there was almost definately going to be a long term War I thought to myself originally that this was obviously needed, however as time went on I began to realise that you cant simply 'Blow up terrorism' you have to attack the roots of it, that being US Foreign Policy which leads to, ironically enough in our present situation, the continued support of many corrupt regimes around the World - and the double standards that results because of this.

Example: The KLA were considered a terrorist organisation right up until the eve of the Serbian War, when they suddenly became heroic freedom fighters.

 

[Foxtrot]

Which may have been better than what Bush is doing.

Yah a big dick in the ass from the terrorists, that would be great.

 

[Foxtrot]

I'm worried about the Olympics....something bad is going to happen in Athens it seems.

Yah somthing probably will happen too, I remember they said the security isn't nearly as good as they wanted it.

 

[Scotchy]

It was my senior year of highschool and I was in my broadcasting class. I wasn't director for a change; I was runnign the 'CG' or text and logos. When we started scannign CNN for any importaqnt last minute news to put in the broadcast, we saw what was happeneing in New York. We took the CNN feed and went live immediately. I remember that I changed all the shows logos and such to "WORLD WAR III IS UNDERWAY!!!" and kept fading in "LIVE" in the corner of the screen. Our anchors were all solemn and such. A bunch of people in the class were crying and so stunned.

How could this happen?!?! Stuff like that.

I wasn't surprised in the least. At that point in time, most americans were so caught up in complacency that they thought that stuff liek that only happens to other people. I always expected something like that to go down; didn't see the plane angle coming though. But Osama tried to take the towers down before (truck bombs in 1993), so it wasn't a shock... just real tragic.

 

[Sprafa]

I was in my house, playing Max Payne.

I only heard about it when my mother got home crying. Turned on the TV, the 1st tower had went down and the people were being evacuated for the impending fall of the 2nd.

And Majestic_XII, your Minister was cryed all the way till here. I'm glad they could the mother****er.

 

[Lil' Timmy]

foxtrot, don't turn this into a bush thread. also, plz no one else take the bait,, stay OT plz, it's an interesting thread.

i was getting ready to leave for work. i check cnn as i was getting dressed or something and it was just after the first plane had hit. i saw the second one hit live. pretty surreal. i watched about 10 mins, then went to work, and everyone there was watching it too. after about an hour, the branch director came and tolfd all non-essential personel to go home. since it's was a government facility, it remained closed to non-essential employees for more than a week. i didn't watch much more tv about than the first two days. i mostly used that off time to hang-out with my then gf. i lived just north of dc, in maryland, and she lived just south in virginia. her mother worked at a building just across from the pentagon, and saw the explosion for the plane (she was on the side opposite the impact).

i later found out that i knew a girl who died in the wtc, but just barely. i don't even remember her name.. i went to college with her and talked to her once when i was looking for someone in her dorm or something, we shared like 3 words between us. i think her name was lindsay. anyway, about a week later i heard that she was working on one of the higher floors and never got out. also, another college/aquaintance friend of mine was about 10 minutes from his banking job in the wtc when the planes hit.