Where were you and what were you doing on that date?
I was in Memphis, TN on a combination trip of gambling(Tunica MS) and strip clubbing. That evening I went to the Memphis Platinum Plus. The place was packled with stranded air travelers. It was a very somber crowd. The music volume was much lower than normal. I spent 2 hours talking to a young lady half my age about the day's events. She never even asked for a dance. I cut my trip short and drove home the next morning.
I was negotiating an oil lease deal with a crusty old cattle rancher in Eastern Alberta. I did not even hear about the 9/11 events until I got back to Calgary early the next morning. I had lunch in Caesar's lounge and sat riveted to the big TV for the rest of the day.
I was sitting at home waiting to leave for work in a couple hours.
was walking down the street heading to a bank for some cash. then heard something shutter and realized that something bad was about to happen. a minute later i saw the implosion of the first building. tried to duck into a pizzeria for cover. bad move -windows were open. never made it to that bank's atm. basically starved and had no cigs for several hours while covered from head to toe w/ building one debris.
I go into the office late thinking that I was having a really crappy day because I had a flat tire on the way to work. As I walked in to get a cup of coffee I saw the replay of the first plane hitting the tower. As I stood there and watched, the second tower was struck. Within minutes my wife called me. She remembered what I was supposed to be doing that day - which I spaced given the flat tire and the news. Two weeks before I had interviewed for a new job and was waiting for them to fly me to NYC to interview with their big wigs. The original plan was that I was to be in the air that day but had never been finalized. That company office was in one of the Twin Towers and ceased to exist after 9/11.
I was working making fine tools. We continued to work, vowing not to give in to acts of war.
I was on vacation in Orlando. So instead of being busy at work,I had the fortunate (unfortunate?) experience of watching the events of the day unfold on TV. I flew back north a few days after air travel was resumed. The Delta flight from Orlando to Atlanta, (which those of you that have made that trip know it is usually full), was only about 1/3 capacity. And there were only about 6 people on the plane from Atlanta to home. It was surreal. The flight attendants just told everyone to pick an empty seat so we all had plenty of room.
Besides the tragic events of the day, what I remember most was how kind people seemed to be for the days and weeks following 9/11. Drivers weren't the arrogant jerks they normally are. Everyone treated each other with respect....ahh, what happened since then?
I had worked the night shift and had the TV on just as the second tower got hit. I then called work and found out that, effective immediately, we were on 12 on/12 off, for the foreseeable future. We did that for two weeks.
I was working on the 17th floor in a 22 story office building in downtown Indianapolis, and my mom was working in the tallest building in Indy. So after the planes hit the towers and the initial shock began to pass somewhat, the next thing on our minds was whether or not our buildings were going to be evacuated. It seems silly now given all the other targets that could've been chosen on that day other than the tall buildings in a mid-sized city, but at the time no one knew how widespread the attacks might be. My building wasn't evacuated, my mom's was. Not a whole lot of work got done that day as everyone was preoccupied with what was going on in New York and DC.
At work, bawling my eyes out with most of the other people there. We had an office in the first tower to get hit, and one of local VPs had gone there the day before. She was one the most well liked people in our office, and it hit us all pretty hard.
I was in Ohio for work, not far from a major Air Force base, Wright-Patterson. In the AM, my first "knowledge" of anything was when we were going on a break. The security guard said something about a plane hitting the WORLD Trade Center. Now my company had a building called the WORLD headquarters and there was a small airport near by that often had planes do stupid things. We all heard the same thing and all thought a plane had hit our headquarters. When we got back to our meeting, the leader told us about the WTC. We then all went to the cafeteria and spent hours watching event unfold! A interesting note, one of the fellows in the group was from Israel. He mentioned how they live with that BS ALL THE TIME!!! What an insight for we Americans. In the afternoon, military planes were like wasps in the sky. At the hotel,later that afternoon, a number of guest were standing around talking. All of a sudden, a "BOOM" rang out!!! After our sphincters relaxed, we realized it had to be a sonic boom.
I also recall I really wanted to kill, personally, whoever was responsible! I have never felt a more intense anger in my 60+ years.
Was in my house, getting ready for work. Ended up going late to work that day as my and my now ex-wife sat transfixed watching the events unfold. At first I remember thinking it was a horrific plane accident until I watched the second plane hit the second tower. I remember screaming "Holy Shit" and realizing this wasn't just a random accident. I was transfixed watching the events unfold on that day, but I have trouble watching any of it now. As it is for most people, it's a day indelibly etched in my brain forever.
i was in 10th grade of high school.
i happened to be in a class room that had a TV, and they turned it on to the news.
i had just woke up before 9am, minutes after the first plane hit and i turned on the tv to see the smoke coming from the tower. minutes later i watched the second plane hit and i instantly knew that it was no accident. i sat there shocked and pissed at what i had seen and continued to watch as the two buildings fell a little while later. i watched for another hour or so then decided to go out on my boat but i took my portable sony watchman tv with me so i could continue to watch it even though watching it just pissed me off more. the thing i remember about being out on the lake. it was a beautiful sunny day with beautiful clear skies. normally those clear blue skies would eventually turn a wispy white as the contrails from the jet traffic would disapate and spread out through the sky, but since all air traffic was grounded the skies remained blue all day.
to this day i still boil when thinking of or discussing what those fanatical fucks did to those innocent people in ny and dc that were just going about their daily lives.
NEVER EVER FORGET!!!
I was in Austin, TX on a business trip. After a day watching events unfold on TV I could not stand to be in my hotel room, so I went out to Expose and basically talked with a few girls. That evening I discovered that my brother, who worked at World Financial Center 1/2 a block away, had made it off the island and was OK, although he was traumatized by the sight of people jumping from the towers. Two days later I set home for Connecticut. I will never forget that drive. The brilliant weather in the east continued and the sky was clear of planes. I listened to one NPR station after another, with a mix of commentary and mournful music. I made it home in three days, and learned about people in the area who were lost.