9/11

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

I was 24 at the time and living with my parents in San Diego. My Dad had woken up and turned on the radio in the kitchen, around 7am our time. I could hear it from my bedroom, my ex gf and I where just waking up. Getting ready for college, I told her half joke/half serious. "Some idiot is buzzing downtown in a plane". Because that's what it sounded like on the radio. Got up and started talking to my Dad, told him the same thing. He told me to go turn on the TV, that he didn't think it was local or a small plane.

First thing I saw when I turned on the TV was the first building and a bunch of smoke. It took a few seconds for everything to click in. That it wasn't in San Diego. I started yelling for my parents and ex to get in the room. We spent the rest of the day watching TV. My ex had family in NYC, she was busy trying to call them. Thankfully they where no where near the towers. But phone lines where a mess. My Dad signed up to donate blood the next day. We hung my Grandfather's US flag outside the house for a week. My Mom started talking about what it was like during WW 2 (she was a toddler).

It was surreal. And school was closed for three days afterwards. My birthday is 9/12 and my Mom's was 9/13. We've always a bit somber, always take a moment to remember. How easily it could have been us or even our town that was attacked.

I know it's something I'll never forget.

[Rachel-Eyes]

There's a part of me that always marks 9/11 as the end of my childhood. I was only 12 years old when it happened, months away from being officially a teenager. When you are a child, the world is a wonderful rosy place, and bad things only happen in Disney movies. When they really did happen, it was only to other people. But when you're a teenager, you get a better glimpse of the ugly face of the world, whether you want to know or not.

I was taking a standardized test and I remember my teacher being pulled into the hallway by another teacher to tell her something. Lots of animated gestures and tears from one teacher, and a gasp and sunken face from the other. We knew something was up, but we finished our tests. Our school had a system that divided grades into "teams," and we had a meeting place called the team room. So we all shuffled into the team room and it was explained to us not only that a plane had crashed into the WTC, but that a second plane had hit just during the time it took us to gather together. I remember being really sad at first, and then really afraid. A bomb threat was called in at our school, so we all had to evacuate and that was when I became especially scared. I thought that maybe the bad guys had moved closer inland and made it to the Midwest to attack a middle school in Nowhereville, Indiana. I don't think I had a true grasp of what had really happened- I remember sadness and fear, and hugging my parents and grandparents a little tighter that day. I remember the gravity of what had happened, but it took a few months to understand what they meant. That was when I started to grow up.

My childhood ended that day. That was when I stopped believing that the world was as magical as I once thought as a child. It was the day that I learned that evil was not a fairy tail, that it really existed in the world- and that its true face is one of violence and of hurt. Optimism is a good thing to happen- there are good people in the world, but I can't ignore the bad ones anymore. I mean, people died. I'm 24 now... that was half a lifetime ago. I've taken this one pretty hard today. It's a really difficult milestone to face that I've lived half of my life in a post-9/11 world. Like how could this happen? I should have spent 6th grade worrying about 6th-grader things and 6th-grader things only, not feeling an overwhelming fear of terrorism or learning about racism against the innocent American people who chose to practice Islam as their faith. I just want to cry. It's so surreal to think that next year I will have lived more years in 9/11 than not.

[kezrob23]

I was 21. Still living at home, but was at my partner's place hanging out. I was just about to go home, as it was nearly 10.30 and I had to work the next day. We were watching the late news when the news reader started mumbling and stuttering and didn't know what to say. She along with everyone else in those first few minutes didn't know what was happening. Then we saw the 2nd plane.... I remember texting my mum, telling her to put channel 10 on. I drove home just after that, and stayed up till after the 2nd building had collapsed... It was probably about 2 am by then. When I got to work the next day at 8am, my boss had our one and only tv on (I didn't even know it worked till that day) and we spent the day walking in and out watching the news.

my most striking memory was from about a week later. I worked in Melbourne cbd, on level 2 of a 4 story building. My boss was at my desk when we heard an airplane fly over. We both simultaneously turned, looked out the window, followed it's path, then just looked at each other as if to say oh no. It was the first and only time I'd ever seen a plane so low over the city, it sent chills down my spine.

[STLGusty]

I was a senior in high school...it was during 1st hour AP Biology 3/4.  My teacher was out of the room for some reason, and we were waiting for CHannel 1 to start playing on TV.  Well, one of the boys in my class jumped up and started trying to find ESPN on the TV instead...he was flipping through the channels, and we were all watching and laughing at him do it.  When he flipped past one of the news stations, we saw a shot of where the first tower had been hit.  He paused and kept flipping.  Everyone started shouting, "Wait!  Wait!  Go back!"... so he went back...and I remember a girl saying, "Is this real???"  And the class that NEVER shut up was dead silent.  We watched the replays a few times, and we finally starting discussing among ourselves - was this an accident?  How does that just happen?  THen the second plane hit...and we knew it wasn't an accident. 

One girl popped into our class to say hi since she was on an errand for another teacher.  She saw us all watching the TV and quickly spread the news to the office and the rest of the school. 

Needless to say, we didn't do much that day.  Pretty somber day...  May we always remember.

[sailorstitch]

I've enjoyed... no... liked...... I've been reading everyone's stories.  I'm glad we can talk about this without the discussion devolving into a huge fight. I was following a thread similar to this on another message board at the time of the 10th anniversary. Somebody asked if anybody was planning on doing anything special to honor the day. Many people replied with a very angry "Why would I want to celebrate such a horrible event!?!"  Apparently "honor" and "celebrate" mean the same thing now. 

If it's ok, I have my own question to add to this thread. For those of you that were in school (elementary through high school) on that day or had children in school..... How did you (or your parents) feel about how your school handled the news? I've heard a lot of parents that had school aged kids at that time say that the school/teachers had "no right" to tell the kids what was going on. That news like that should only come from the child's parent. I'm not a parent so I don't really have an opinion. But would have not telling the kids been a practical option?

sailorstitch

[Beldarna]

I was 17, and the clock was about 4:30 pm. I was sitting by the computer when dad came running through the garden to the front door, telling mom to turn on the TV. We spent the rest of the evening in front of the TV. I can still remember the horrible sound of the bodies from people jumping. I didn't undertand it at first, mom had to explain it to me and I got cold with horror.
Two years later, our minister of foreign affairs got murdered on the exact same date which also shook me. It was such a chock that something like that could happen in little Sweden. Dubble sorrow.

[Rachel-Eyes]

I've enjoyed... no... liked...... I've been reading everyone's stories.  I'm glad we can talk about this without the discussion devolving into a huge fight. I was following a thread similar to this on another message board at the time of the 10th anniversary. Somebody asked if anybody was planning on doing anything special to honor the day. Many people replied with a very angry "Why would I want to celebrate such a horrible event!?!"  Apparently "honor" and "celebrate" mean the same thing now. 

If it's ok, I have my own question to add to this thread. For those of you that were in school (elementary through high school) on that day or had children in school..... How did you (or your parents) feel about how your school handled the news? I've heard a lot of parents that had school aged kids at that time say that the school/teachers had "no right" to tell the kids what was going on. That news like that should only come from the child's parent. I'm not a parent so I don't really have an opinion. But would have not telling the kids been a practical option?

sailorstitch

I agree so much with the first part of your comment. The MLPArena is a really awesome community- we're here for each other when we hurt. Like all groups of people, we're not perfect, but we've still got it pretty good. I'm so glad that we can talk about things like 9/11 that really do deserved to be discussed even now. This really is the best fandom I've ever been a part of

Now I'm getting sappy though, so I'm gonna move onto your question, which really is a good question and one that I've never considered before.

I was just beginning middle school when the tragedy happened, so even though we were pretty young, I think we were old enough to have the right to know what was going on. (I can't speak for elementary schools though because I have no firsthand account of that... but I think that middle school and high school needed to know.) That was the week that we took the ISTEP, which is an Indiana standardized test which is a HUGE deal here in the schools here. Or at least it was made out to be. The event was huge enough for the school to want to pause on the testing and turn its attention to the news, and looking back, I appreciate that. I belong to a generation where standardized testing is a much bigger deal that what it probably should be- but the school took its attention away from that and put it on the attack where it needed to be. What happened in New York 12 years ago was more important than what happened on page 15 of that little gray packet 12 years ago. I have little faith in a lot of my local school system as it is, and I have terrible memories of that particular middle school, but I've always been happy with the way that they handled 9/11 because it put the focus on the things that are way more important than the trivialities of normal school days.

Honestly, I don't think I would have been so freaked out if not for the bomb threat that was made that afternoon, forcing us to evacuate. I thought that the people responsible for the attacks had somehow been pillaging their way inland and decided to bomb Indiana schools when they got here. I just remember being really afraid- that childish fear, and then my friend standing outside with me trying to calm me down by talking about Pokemon. Pokemon was so uncool back then that nobody dared talk about it, even if they liked it, but she risked being laughed at just because I was sad. I'll never forget that. That was a huge deal when you are in an environment where being cool is like a matter of life and death.

[StarSwirl05]

The day was pretty well normal for me (no one spoke of it at all in school) until I got home from school and that's when I watched the TV for like an hour.

[ashes]

I was 22 and had just started graduate school.  I was out-of-state for college, but once I graduated, I moved back home to CA (since the university I chose for grad school was relatively close by and I could commute and save a bit on rent). 

I was supposed to have class that Tuesday morning, but with a last minute schedule change I ended up being home.  I remember getting up and being in the bathroom when I heard my parents' shocked voices.   I came out and watched the TV in horror.  It was just all so surreal.  And I was glad I didn't have to go to school that day.  I would have been in downtown San Francisco, and I knew my parents would have freaked out and probably would have driven up there to personally bring me home.

But the next day in class (which was an art history class), the mood was pretty somber.  The events were a big elephant in the room, so our teacher let us have a few minutes to voice our thoughts, concerns, anger, sadness, and fear.

[sailorstitch]

Rachel-Eyes,

Thanks for replying. I agree, MLP is the best fandom!

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm from IN too. Born and raised here. So I remember ISTEP VERY well. I'm about 8 years older than you, but some things never change. It sounds like your school did a good job of handling things.

My school had a bomb threat when I was in high school, but they didn't close the school. They just made attendance optional. I don't remember being scared. I just remember being happy that I didn't have to go to school.  A friend of mine, her mom made her go to school that day. She told me the next day that there were only a handful of people there. If our bomb threat had come on or after 9/11, I'm sure the school would've been closed.

I was trying to think today how my school handled the news of other tragedies.  I started kindergarten in '85. In '86 the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. This was NEVER discussed at my school. I didn't know that even happened until I saw that special episode of Punky Brewster a couple years later. Even then I didn't realize that it was something that really happened. I think my elementary school tried to avoid current events as much as possible. I remember the teachers talking to us about the Gulf War when I was in 3rd grade, but I didn't understand what was going on.

I started middle school in '93. In '95 the Oklahoma City bombing happened. I didn't find out about it until I had my social studies class in the afternoon. I still remember walking in to the room and being surprised that the tv was on. The tv was NEVER on. We spent the whole period talking about what was going on in Oklahoma City and watching the news. And that was the only class where it was discussed. There was no school wide announcement.

I started high school in '96. Then in '99 the Columbine school shooting happened. I remember being in science class and somebody turned on the tv. The teacher I had for this class was WAY too laid back. He didn't care if we did our work or not. It was more of a social hour than a class. I remember being confused as to why the tv was on. But I didn't pay much attention to it. I was too concerned with hanging out with my friend. I didn't find out what had happened until I got home and saw it on tv. I felt so guilty about not paying attention to the tv during class.  Once again there was no school wide announcement of any kind.

I know these events pale in comparison to 9/11. But they are still tragedies that rocked the nation. If I remember correctly I believe our local schools went into lock down mode on 9/11. Nobody in, nobody out. The only way a student was leaving was with their parents.

The day was pretty well normal for me (no one spoke of it at all in school) until I got home from school and that's when I watched the TV for like an hour.

May I ask what grade you were in?

sailorstitch

[Eviecorn]

I was in college and I had just left an appointment at the university's health department before my Brit Lit class.  I saw it on the TVs in the university center and was all "yep, no class today."  I called several people, and I went back to my dorm and watched the news all day.

[Prince Primbrose]

I know these events pale in comparison to 9/11. But they are still tragedies that rocked the nation. If I remember correctly I believe our local schools went into lock down mode on 9/11. Nobody in, nobody out. The only way a student was leaving was with their parents.

In my experience that's exactly how things were handled post-9/11. Once in middle school we went into full blown lockdown, and they (wrongly!) communicated that there was an armed individual in the building. The reality was... Two teens had broken into a house in the neighborhood and stolen some guns. Students weren't allowed to leave without a parent with ID who was listed in the students' file. Some kids were there all evening waiting.

[StarSwirl05]

Rachel-Eyes,

Thanks for replying. I agree, MLP is the best fandom!

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm from IN too. Born and raised here. So I remember ISTEP VERY well. I'm about 8 years older than you, but some things never change. It sounds like your school did a good job of handling things.

My school had a bomb threat when I was in high school, but they didn't close the school. They just made attendance optional. I don't remember being scared. I just remember being happy that I didn't have to go to school.  A friend of mine, her mom made her go to school that day. She told me the next day that there were only a handful of people there. If our bomb threat had come on or after 9/11, I'm sure the school would've been closed.

I was trying to think today how my school handled the news of other tragedies.  I started kindergarten in '85. In '86 the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. This was NEVER discussed at my school. I didn't know that even happened until I saw that special episode of Punky Brewster a couple years later. Even then I didn't realize that it was something that really happened. I think my elementary school tried to avoid current events as much as possible. I remember the teachers talking to us about the Gulf War when I was in 3rd grade, but I didn't understand what was going on.

I started middle school in '93. In '95 the Oklahoma City bombing happened. I didn't find out about it until I had my social studies class in the afternoon. I still remember walking in to the room and being surprised that the tv was on. The tv was NEVER on. We spent the whole period talking about what was going on in Oklahoma City and watching the news. And that was the only class where it was discussed. There was no school wide announcement.

I started high school in '96. Then in '99 the Columbine school shooting happened. I remember being in science class and somebody turned on the tv. The teacher I had for this class was WAY too laid back. He didn't care if we did our work or not. It was more of a social hour than a class. I remember being confused as to why the tv was on. But I didn't pay much attention to it. I was too concerned with hanging out with my friend. I didn't find out what had happened until I got home and saw it on tv. I felt so guilty about not paying attention to the tv during class.  Once again there was no school wide announcement of any kind.

I know these events pale in comparison to 9/11. But they are still tragedies that rocked the nation. If I remember correctly I believe our local schools went into lock down mode on 9/11. Nobody in, nobody out. The only way a student was leaving was with their parents.

The day was pretty well normal for me (no one spoke of it at all in school) until I got home from school and that's when I watched the TV for like an hour.

May I ask what grade you were in?

sailorstitch

My school had no grades, it was a private school.

[scarletjul]

I was 18 and had just graduated from high school that past May.  I was at home and woke to the news being on and on, nothing but the images of the tragedy.  I remember being in shock for pretty much the whole day and in tears for much of the next day after.  I'm from CA but I had just been to Manhattan the April beforehand with my family; I had pictures of leaving New York with the twin towers in the skyline.

I wasn't really scared about what would happen next, just horribly saddened about the people who had died.   And I remember thinking that my job (at the mall) took forever to close; I didn't have work that day but I also knew nobody was going to go shopping.  But the mall stayed open until 3 pm.  I went in the next day and it was a ghost town for like the next 2 weeks.  Nobody was shopping.

I also remember writing in my diary a lot back then.  Lots of journal entries; lots of poetry.

[kiwimlp]

Thank you to everyone for sharing their personal stories.  Coming from New Zealand I am fascinated by the things you have all observed and remembered.  On the recent anniversary I watched a TV show dedicated to the children of 911 - those who lost parents in the tragedy - and found it utterly heart-breaking. 

My own memory of the day is of getting up for work as usual while hubby lay in bed listening to the news.  The next thing I knew, he leapt out of bed and stumbled out into the lounge to turn on the TV.   We just sat staring at the TV and shaking our heads in disbelief.

I would like to one day visit Ground Zero and pay my respects to everyone who passed on that day.