Where were you?

[underpants]

We all remember exactly where we were when we first heard that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers.

Where were you?


I had just gotten back from a smoke break when a coworker told me. I returned to my desk and there was a message, my best friend in Williamsburg said that he and his wife and there 1 year old son were watching Good Morning America as the WTC burned and suddenly there was another airplane "Man that thing is close" he said to his wife and then the second one hit.

I just sat there all day trying to find out anything ANYTHING. This were the days before streamvideo to any great extent and I wasn't on DU so I just sat there waiting for news sites to update.

When the Pentagon got hit a coworker screamed "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!" and a chill ran down my spine.

Around 3:00 I went back down for another smoke-the security guard asked what I was still doing there....turns out everyone else left at 2:00 my boss didn't tell me.

The week of staring at the TV in amazement ended with someone kicking in the door to our apartment and stealing both of our TVs. My uncle called the FBI because he was just sure that the TV's could be used to hijack airplanes.

[lamp_shade]

1. At work. Watched the second plane hit in the media room. Went home

immediately and watched as the towers collapse. Very brief description, I know, but I'm so emotional right now that it's hard to talk.

[lamp_shade]

56. .

[jakem]

2. i was watching the Today show...

holding my then 6 month old boy, and crying...

I was born in midtown. It was such a painful morning.

:cry:

[bdamomma]

3. I was at work, and was delivering some payroll information

to another department I saw the TV on and I was just shocked.

[democrat_patriot]

4. I was camping, didn't hear about this until 9/14.

Didn't see any video of crash until October....it was along camping trip. I saw it in a bar having lunch.

I called to check in with my old co-workers and asked them "What's new?"...that was a weird conversation. I met some people from New York around 9/16 on a hiking trail, they didn't know either.

[MrScorpio]

5. At work at Langley AFB VA

We were freakin' out

[arcadian]

69. Any insight into the occurrences at Langley?

Anything you'd like to share. Weren't aircraft scrambled from there?

[MrScorpio]

86. Personally, I don't know

I wasn't part of the Wing. I worked in a tenant Intel unit.

There were alert F-16s there. Whether and when they did scramble I have no details.

[Robb]

6. Mountain time: Bartcop told me first

Foggy head. Coffee in hand. Bartcop.com was my first stop in those days.

Something like, "We're at war, and we don't know who with" was on his page. Then trying the rest of the web. Then CNN. Then running upstairs and asking the wife, "Is any of your family traveling today?" X(

A day of watching TV. Too far in the mountains for anything else. Quiet, clear blue skies for the first time I could ever remember. And waiting tables at night -- to a whopping two customers. Mostly just sat and talked with the chef.

[my2sense]

7. In Las Vegas on a vacation with friends

My mother called that morning and told us to turn on the television. As we were still waking up - we watched in horror as the second plane struck.

[tannybogus]

8. I was at home in Greensboro, NC.

I had on a news show, but I can't remember which one. I saw it from the start, and

just sat there with my mouth open. I called a good friend and told him to turn on the TV.

I spent the rest of the day flipping channels. I think I was trying to make it go away.

[MANative]

9. At work. In Manhattan.

The most horrific day of my life.

[stuntcat]

62. one of my friends in NY..

A friend of mine was working downtown that day and he had to spend the whole day walking uptown, with the huge crowd. A few days after 9/11 he wrote a long essay about it, about the crowd and the confusion-what you went through too I'm sure, and shared it with everyone.

[MANative]

64. I've written at length about it once or twice in the last couple

of years, and it was a helpful part of healing for me. The crowds walking uptown were just stunning, and the scene at GCT was unbelievable - once they finally allowed it to re-open - people just packing on to open trains and gettin' the heck outta Dodge - trains being met by armed officers (and Red Cross people) at every stop. This was extremely traumatic for my family, as my youngest brother works at the Pentagon. He was scheduled to be on the flight that crashed into the building, but had to go to PAX River for a last minute meeting. Two of his direct reports were on the plane, and two more colleagues were killed in the building. I think that day, as awful as it was for my brother and myself, was even worse for my parents, who were convinced they had lost their oldest child and youngest child in 2 spots at once. Took us all over 12 hours to find each other.

[stuntcat]

72. they must have been in agony

Your parents had NO way to know what had happened!

Writing down all you felt and thought has got to really help with letting go of some of the trauma. Maybe that's why my friend David wrote it and sent it to everyone.. It was just an incredible thing you have to share.

[Aeval]

10. I was in my pj's at home.... But by the time the second plane hit, I was

holding my sister as she sobbed and shook after a call from her fiancee' (from the Stock Exchange) went dead 10 seconds after he said "there's smoke and stuff coming in through the vents. It's hard to breathe."

He was okay, though he had to evacuate amid a ton of smoke, dust and debris and walk home to Brooklyn. We did not hear from him until later that evening.

My(now)brother-in-law lost 8 friends that day.

[Liberalynn]

11. I was still in bed when my mother started yelling up the stairs

that we were being attacked.

I turned on the TV and just started crying and screaming,

"why isn't someone stopping this? why isn't any one doing anything?"

I was so sad, frightened, and angry all at the same time.

I watched the news, then checked in with family and friends. I remember an e-mail group I was on about a favorite TV show, Hercules, had fellow members start e-mailing all NY State members to check and see if we were okay, even those who didn't live directly in NY city.

We also had group members from around the world including England and New Zealand,and Austraila telling all we Americans, how sorry they were and how much they loved us.

[crappyjazz]

12. Home sick with the flu

Friend from Manhattan called me and said "turn on CNN now!" Told me that World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. I must confess, being Canadian, only having visited NYC once, and having a fever, my first thought was "wtf is the WTC?"... yeh stupid I know ... then he said "Twin Towers, we drove right by them remember?"

I turned on the TV and a couple of minutes later is when the second plane hit. I really thought it was the end of the world ... spent the rest of the day on the phone and internet talking with my American friends who were beyond shitless scared.

The rest of the week is kind of a blur when I try to remember anything else but that one day.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. Walking home from the elementary school where I had just dropped off my kids.

Booted up the computer to see the report about the first plane; assumed it was a small private plane with a crappy pilot. Turned on the tv to see the second plane go in.

[KharmaTrain]

14. Online & Wired...

I was sitting in this very room...watching Don Imus when the first report came in about 7:48am Central. I then hopped online to find out more and caught up with a good friend who was in Brooklyn...he hadn't heard about the crash, then popped on his teevee and ran to the window and confirmed the smoke pouring out of the WTC. We remained online and other friends across the country began to gather...we watched with confusion, anger and horror...with my friend in Brooklyn describing what he was seeing, hearing and then smelling.

Later that day I had to drive into Chicago...and went past a very quiet O'hare Airport...and on the horizon was Sears Tower. I eeriness of that ride still sticks in my mind as I still was, and am, numb about watching what happened in New York...a surreal day that now is laden with sorrow as I've seen it used as a weapon for further aggression and the utter moral corruption of the past 7 1/2 years.

[halobeam]

15. Checked which way the wind was blowing.

Didn't know what to expect (dirty bombs, etc)... live on Long Island. Grabbed kids and sisters kids from school and sat w/ family and friends. Got sad news on the phone one day after the other. Too many people gone. Friends I went to school with, friends who lost family, firefighters from our town, teachers of my kids who lost family.

'nuff said.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. Times Square...

teaching...a couple of pagers went off in my classroom (it was a ballroom in a hotel) ... people quietly took their calls out into the lobby area...one of them came back in and said that the WTC had been hit by an airplane. we all assumed it was a little private plane...but the guy who mentioned it said simply, "I don't think so..." We started back and within what seemed like a minute the whole thing started over...and we knew something was badly wrong.

most of the people that day in my class were locals. i told them to go and attend to their loved ones...there would be no problem rescheduling from my end. a couple of others were not...so i stayed the whole week and finished the class for them...it was a very quiet week in the classroom...barely a word was spoken outside of my lecture.

i had a bear of a time getting home. thankfully i had rented a car for the week when i arrived on Sunday evening...i called hertz and told them i would be driving it to ATL. they were very understanding as a lot of flights weren't going yet...no one way fee...they waved the mileage...didn't care that i didn't take the time to 'fill 'er up.'

difficult day...difficult week...and times since have been a little strange...

sP

[MorningGlow]

17. At work--at a local TV station

Needless to say, I was a little busy that day. On one hand it was good, because I could focus on work and didn't freak out--there was no time for personal freakouts--but on the other hand, I stayed insulated in my shock and didn't deal with my shock and grief until late that night.

I remember that my suspicion of the official story crept in sometime during the day, and my first words to my husband when I got home around 7:30 that night was "Where were the intercept planes?" I've been a proud MIHOPer ever since.

I went to an impromptu meditation circle at my elder's house that night, and when I got home I could do nothing more than sit out at the end of our dock (we lived on a small lake at the time), even though it was pretty cold, and stare at the darkness.

I remember it was eerie, not hearing any planes overhead. I never noticed them much, but I sure noticed the absence of them that night.

[Kind of Blue]

18. My husband was taking me to work 6a.m. here in Cali

And then later, I found out that my childhood friend from Africa was killed along with her 4 year old son who she happened to take to work with her that day at the WTC. I broke down in tears last night during KO's commentary remembering how she and her baby died, her parent's and husband's inconsolable grief, and I hate that the McCain campaign showed the dreadful video because I know my friend would not want me to remember her that way.

[annarbor]

19. At work in the police chief's office...

My former Chief was a retired NYPD Deputy Chief. We were looking at the single plane thinking "what pilot, with any kind of training flies into the World Trade Center". Then the second plane hit...we all flew out of the office and ran to the break room to watch it on the big screen TV. I was standing next to him when the first tower fell. I choke up just thinking about it. We closed City Hall for the rest of the day and sometime around 7pm we all ended up in religious services for all faiths. It was a small church and and I remember the Rabbi asking all of us to sing "America the Beautiful". After one line I began bawling....my Chief broke down shortly thereafter.

I get choked up every single 9-11.


Peace-

Ann Arbor

[Liberal In Texas]

20. Omaha. There for a funeral the day before. Later in the day I saw a large plane in the distance

and wondered what it was still doing flying around. It had to be AF1 on final to Offutt (Stratcom) AFB.

[shadowknows69]

21. I was at work and came to check out the TV when someone said there was a fire

At the WTC, got into the break room just in time to see the second plane hit. Like an idiot I kept watching and saw the collapse live and everything. I should have just gone home but I was in radio so we were instantly in panic broadcast mode.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. I was at home, 50 miles due north of WTC. Gorgeous morning. I was watching the Today Show when it

was interrupted by local NY news. The first plane hit and they were showing it live. An eyewitness reported it as a small plane. I sat there in horror, thinking about all the people. When the second plane hit, I knew it was deliberate it. The tears just kept flowing.

More happened personally to me concerning this which I can't go into now due to time but I suffered with some post trauma disorder for a few months.

I'm originally from the city and my city and its people were attacked and I have no doubt that in the least it was LIHOP and at most MIHOP

[moriah]

23. I was at home, asleep.

I worked nights, but worked Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday. So that day I didn't have to go to work. I was married, my husband was from Germany. When he first came to the States he spent some time in NY, and had a lot of friends there.

So we were both asleep when my mother called over to tell us.

We didn't have a TV. So we knocked on our neighbor's door -- we shared a phone line with him, and we knew he'd let us watch his TV. We woke him up, and he quickly turned on the TV.

And we watched the news coverage that day -- and saw the 2nd plane hit.

When my husband saw the 2nd plane hit, he insisted on calling his friends up there -- but we couldn't get a call through, it appeared everyone else was trying to call up there too. He thought that meant the attack was more than what was on TV, and kept trying to get a call through all day. He finally reached them the next day -- both his friend and his friend's wife worked in the medical profession so they worked a 36 hour day that day.

[bryant69]

24. I didn't even notice, until I did

We had a conference scheduled that week or the week after and I was buried under getting all of my assignments done for the people who were going to Conference. I got up around 10:30 or so, and walked out to get a Soda. I saw that there was a TV in the lobby which was odd. I asked why the TV was set up, and the receptionist cryptically said that our Executive Director had requested it be set up. I watched for a moment and realized why.

9/11 was the sort of thing that, for me, was sort of too big to piece together. I couldn't wrap my head around it at first. It took a while. I was kind of numb and stunned.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[tpsbmam]

25. At home on medical leave from work....

and hating being alone that day. I watched the news with horror and, as a native New Yorker who had moved out of the city, knew I had friends in those buildings and nearby. I finally managed to get hold of all but two days later -- two didn't make it. Do you know how much I HATE Republicans who say, "Don't you remember 9/11?" and use it as a Republican ploy? I've had a couple of Republicans say it to me since I've moved to NC -- I don't think they'll say it to anyone else after I got done with them.

[bbernardini]

26. About to teach a kindergarten music class, in my first full week at a new job.

Still my current employer. I had loaded Drudge Report to check out the headlines (this was before I knew he was a right-wing hack), and saw the headline about the first plane. I actually thought the same thing Bush later said about the pilot not being very good (or something like that). Then the class arrived, and we did music things. 30 minutes later, I checked Drudge again and all hell had broken loose.

We had no means to view live TV (and still don't), so we stood in the office of the Middle School Head and listened to radio reports. (This probably explains my fascination with collecting video of the live TV coverage from that day.) My wife worked at QVC at the time, and they sent everybody home and shut down the live broadcast.

[RebelOne]

27. At work. A co-worker told me that a plane hit the WTC.

Then everyone rushed to the TV in the conference room and watched as the towers burned and fell.

[trotsky]

30. Same for me. My immediate thought was that it was a small prop plane, pilot error.

When we saw that it had been a passenger jet, it was just surreal. There wasn't much done at work that day.

[Dorian Gray]

28. I was in my apartment

in Manhattan at the time. 29th between Madison and 5th. I watched it unfold from the roof of my building as I frantically called my best friend and my brother, both who worked on the floor of the stock exchange.

I was lucky that they both were fine.

Other people I know weren't so lucky. They lost loved ones.

[beyurslf]

29. Had just arrived at work. My mom and I carpooled that morning.

We often rode without the radio on so we could chat. When we walked into the building (special education school), we were met by several people who told us we were under attack.

[supernova]

31. I was here at work

though in a different division.

I worked behind a secured door. It's a big place and there are TV monitors everywhere displaying the company channel most of the time with announcements, meeting notices, community events and so on usually. I had gone to get my morning coffee from the cafe (quite a walk). I had just returned and the TV outside my office door had been switched to the morning news (as had all the TVs), security had changed channels. It was CBS morning news showing that the first tower had just been hit. They were staring at it wondering what to make of it all.

I couldn't stop staring at it and, like TVs everywhere it started to gather a little crowd. We all watched.

I emailed back and forth with a guy whom I was dating at the time, indicating I was a bit worried and stressed about it. But he was very detached and self-absorbed, like he wasn't present at all. He really gave off the "it's not a big deal, I don't want to hear about it" vibe. We didn't date much longer after that.

Very, very draining day.

[C_U_L8R]

32. Across the street

heading towards the World Financial Center to get a coffee
when the the first plane few overhead and into the first tower.
Had to run for cover.

[supernova]

34. ...

:hug:

[masmdu]

33. On a Message Board with People in WTC describing what was going on....I was in Hawaii at the time...

Sad

[CrownPrinceBandar]

35. I was asleep during the event..........

The crazy thing is that in the late morning of 9/11, I got up and went to the store and did not find out about it until I came back. While I was out, I never saw any indication from the other shoppers that anything was wrong, there was no terrified buzz, no nervous conversation. It seemed business as usual. By the time I returned home, it was about 11AM and I finally turned on the tube.....

I then woke up my day-sleeping roommate and we were glued to the tube, in abject horror, for the rest of the day. I can easily number that day as one of the worst days in my life.

k+r

[Arkansas Granny]

36. I was at work. My boss was out of the office and called in to tell me about

it when he heard about the first plane. We thought at that time it must be an accident. Just a little later he called back to tell me about the second plane. No TV at work, so I turned on the radio and learned about the other 2 planes. I spent the rest of the day on the internet (dial up) and kept checking news reports from there. The phone stopped ringing except for people calling to ask "Did you hear?". Someone brought in a portable tv late that afternoon and we saw the video of the building collapse.

I felt empty for days with just an overwhelming sense of loss and frustration. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. It just seemed like such a personal loss.

[ccvirgo911]

37. At home

September 11 is my birthday, and I had taken the day off. I had just stepped off my treadmill, and walked into the living room to see the second plane hit. I thought it was from a movie. Then everything slowed down. My husband at the time was home too, and we even considered going to our boy's schools and picking them up. We thought the whole country was being attacked. The rest of the day we spent in shock and horror.

Never forget.

[blondie58]

39. woah- yeah, that is something you will never forget, ccvirgo911

But a very happy birthday to you today. The future WILL get better when Obama gets elected.:party: Have a great birthday- go do sonething fun.

[ThatsMyBarack]

38. "The New York City skyline is forever changed."

That's a quote in an email I got from a friend in NJ who saw the Twin Towers go down from her window.

[blondie58]

40. I was on vacation- painting the exterior of my house.

I had the radio on, and I had to keep rushing inside to look at the television. The whole thing seemed very surreal.

[bigscott]

41. I just took my son

to get his chickenpox vaccine and dropped him off at school. I was driving to NYC for an appt. when i got onto I-95 in New Haven the over-highway signs were all flashing "NYC CLOSED" I stopped at a service area and watched the towers fall. I lost 2 friends that day, one a NYC Cop. i will never forget what * did to my favorite city

peace
S

[demnan]

42. I was at work in Arlington, Virginia

Just a few miles from the Pentagon in the Rosslyn area. Spent most of the morning consoling a co-worker who had worked in EMS in New York and knew that some of her friends had died. Went to Internet sites to see what was happening. Bartcop kept updating his page, I wasn't on DU as of then. Then when the plane hit the Pentagon we saw some people go to the roof of the sky scraper next door where you could see the smoke coming from the Pentagon.

They dismissed us from work early but I was reluctant to go home, because I lived so close to the Pentagon. When I finally did go home I had to drive half-way around the county to get there because so many roads close to the Pentagon were closed. It took me 45 minutes to go 3 miles. When I parked my car and looked over toward the Pentagon you could see the smoke pouring up. I got up to my apartment and my cat Pad Thai came out to greet me, but my cat Lily was petrified in the closet - she didn't come out for two days. Some people who observed the plane said it looked like it cleared our apartment building by only about 5 feet and the noise was horrible.

A friend who lived in the building and I decided we would walk down and try to see what was going on. I took my camera. I actually did a post in Bartcop Entertainment. People were riding bikes down around but the military police wouldn't let you come too close.

I remember looking over at the adjacent Arlington Cemetary and saying, "This place will have many more occupants because of this day".

[carlyhippy]

43. I was flipping channels when I landed on CNN

the first plane had already hit and their cameras were on it, I thought to myself, shoot someone was messing around in a small plane and ran into the building.........I wondered how long it would take for the other major channels to go to the scene....it took about 2-3 minutes before NBC cameras went to the site. My 8 year old was ready for school, and sat beside me on the couch while I was watching NBC. We saw the 2nd plane fly into the building, my kid and I both said "OH S*&T!" in unison, I was so shocked at what happened I didn't even seem shocked by my kid's reaction. I said...I think we are under attack by someone, I just had a strange feeling there were more planes going to hit more places. I ran into the other bedroom and told my other kid what was going on and he put the tv on the news. I called my husband while taking the kids to school and told him, he had no idea it was even going on. By the time I got to work my co-worker asked if I had heard what was going on, by that time the Pentagon was hit. It was a strange feeling all day for me, a feeling of shock. In my generation nothing of this magnitude had even happened, and hopefully will never happen again.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

44. It happened late at night here in Australia

I was university during that year and living on campus. I had just concluded a very long and tiring day and was unwinding late at night in my room at college. I had been preparing some research notes on a tutorial for my American history course the next day on McCarthyism but I decided that I was too tired to finish it and was preparing to turn off my computer and call it a night but, before I did, I logged on to the Sydney Morning Herald’s website to see whether they had put up tomorrow’s edition of the paper (the new edition of the paper usually became available shortly after midnight). And that’s when I heard the news. At that time everything was uncertain and there were rumors flying everywhere. All the other news sites were agonizingly slow to access because so many users around the globe were logging in to get the latest information

I turned on the TV and all five of our TV channels had crossed live to their American counterparts and bringing us the latest updates as they went along. I just spent the rest of the night glued to the television and the Internet. I cannot even begin to describe my feelings and emotions at that time. I’ve always felt a deep and passionate emotional and perhaps even spiritual connection to the United States since my youth and it was a source of deep and overwhelming pain and grief to see the tragedy and horror that was unfolding. I remember thinking about all the innocent lives that had been lost and all the families that were going to be losing loved ones and I just couldn’t believe that anyone could be so callous and evil as to inflict that pain and suffering on others. I think my faith in humanity was deeply shattered on that day

The next day I remained glued to the TV throughout the day with an interruption for my tutorial. My tutorial that day was mainly devoted to discussing what was unfolding and the implications for America and the world.

Most of the TV channels over the next few days continued their almost round-the-clock feed from the American news channels. I watched it and my sense of horror and sadness never left me. I remember looking through the portraits of those who were in the towers and who were at that stage missing and just being filled with overwhelming grief, pain and anger that so many beautiful, innocent people had been taken from their families and from this world. I went to sleep every night for a long time after that waking up every day and hoping that I’d just had a really bad dream and then confronting the reality that it wasn’t a bad dream. As it was, I couldn’t have predicted this in my worst nightmares

My deepest, sincerest and most heartfelt thoughts, prayers, condolences and sympathies to those who were affected or who lost loved ones in this senseless, evil and horrific tragedy on this, the 7th anniversary

[ET Awful]

45. I was about 15 feet from where I am right now. That was before they did some remodeling at work

when my office was still in a different place.

[nuxvomica]

46. I was on my way to work

Listening to NPR on the car radio. They were reporting that a small plane had hit the WTC. My first thought was that it was a CIA drone rigged with explosives. After getting to work, I was refreshing Slashdot all day for the latest news.

[nichomachus]

47. I was at home getting ready to go out -- but my next door neighbor was on AA Flight 11

[SIMPLYB1980]

48. I was in class.

I remember sitting in the room and someone ran in and said a plane just hit the WTC! We didn't believe him at first until people started going into the halls, and our professor got a TV out and turned on the news. Not a minuet after turning on the TV the second plane hit and everyone new immediately that we were being attacked.

The College when into overdrive, canceled classes, opened support groups, ect... I just wanted to be home, luckily I went to college only 2 hours from home, so I packed my car and started driving home in a state of shock flipping through the channels to find any news on what was happening.

When I got home I meet my mom and dad in the front yard and experienced something that truly chilled me to the bone. We live near Charlotte, NC under the flight path for almost all incoming and outgoing flights. Normally I hear the planes without realizing that I do, and this was the first time I have experienced absolute silence when standing outside. Not a plane, not a car, not a bird made a noise as if the entire planet was holding it's breath.

Then the images, oh the images were burned into my brain like a searing hot brand. Fire, explosions, people falling or jumping I didn't want to look, but I had to. I will never forget it.

[tosh]

49. We were both at home, just waking up when my MIL called

to say "Turn on the news, a plane just crashed into the WTC."

Still in bed, we watched the live reports. We saw the second plane hit and instantly knew this was no accident.

We stayed in bed watching the whole thing unfold.

That afternoon I kept an appointment with the vet for our oldest cat. We all seemed like zombies at the vet's office, clients and staff alike, just going through the motions, practically speechless.

[babylonsister]

50. Bali, Indonesia, with no way to get home.

The internet cafes were on overload. It sucked, but the other people there (foreigners and locals alike) felt the pain we did. They were gracious, concerned, we were all united.

[Sparkly]

51. Starting my morning, about to drive in to DC.

There was an odd confusion about whether or not this was a crisis, or what to do and not to do. The place where I teach there couldn't decide whether or not to stay open or cancel classes for the day. Traffic was jamming, reports were coming in that there were other fires or explosions (false reports), nobody knew quite what was happening and whether more attacks were imminent -- yet they were reluctant to close. I finally called all my students and canceled my own classes. Everyone I spoke to was relieved and said they didn't intend to go anywhere anyway. (Later, all classes were canceled.)

Not long afterwards, of course, our mail was going through anthrax-poisoned post offices and the snipers were gunning people down at random. People around here felt literally terrorized that year. But fortunately, the Chimp said it was a "fabulous" year for Laura and himself.

What still gets me is how people in areas that weren't targeted have been so manipulated by this. NY and DC wanted Kerry, and now Obama -- yet Dumbfuckistan has its own strong, wrong opinion about Republican asshats being able to "keep us safe." Was it Colbert or Stewart who thanked them for saving us from ourselves?!

That's what still strikes me, and infuriates me, all these years later -- how our country allowed itself to be terrorized into self-destructive choices.

[no limit]

52. In high school in gym class someone told me. That was first period. By second period

we were all watching the coverage on TV.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

53. I was living in Portland, Oregon

I had been up late working on part of a translation job that was due that day, so I slept in till about 9:00.

For years, my daily routine had been to turn on NPR as I walked to the kitchen for my first coffee, but just a few days before, I had rearranged my furniture to accommodate my cable Internet setup, so I just went into the kitchen and ate breakfast.

Then it was time to start that translation job again. I sat down at the computer and checked my e-mail to see if any clients had sent any work from Japan over night. There was no new work, just a discussion from the translators' mailing list. The last message, from an American living in Japan, and time-stamped after midnight Japan time just said, "Oh my God, turn on your TV NOW."

I assumed there must have been an earthquake or volcanic eruption so I didn't think anything of it.

Then I went over to DU (I had been a member since February 2001). In those days, the front page contained the latest non-Lounge posts, so I was shocked to see all sorts of unimaginable headlines about the World Trade Center. I went to those stories, and since it was already well after noon on the East Coast, I came across a message from Khephra (R.I.P.) that said, "It's true. Both towers are gone."

Having visited the WTC and stood next to those immense towers, I was having a hard time with the concept, so I ran to the radio, and sure enough, NPR was reporting the same thing. It was still impossible to grasp, so I turned on CNN, and there was that video footage that we've all seen so many times, of the towers crumbling one by one.

At about 10AM Pacific Time, I got a phone call on my church's phone tree. We were going to have a memorial service for the as-yet-unknown number of victims and prayers for the rescue workers at noon. Our priest, who had grown up in New Jersey and seen the WTC being built as a teenager, was highly emotional, as were all of us who had East Coast connections.

It was after I got home that I saw the footage of Bush at the Booker School. Like OJ's sly smile as the verdict of innocence was announced, Bush's reaction was all wrong for the situation. He didn't look panicky, he didn't look "deer in the headlights," he didn't look like a commander--he just looked annoyed, as if Andrew Card had told him his lights were on in the parking lot.

That's when I became a LIHOP person.

Glued to the TV except for that church service, I was unable to work on my translation assignment, which was due that evening, so I phoned my contact at the translation agency in Tokyo. She said not to worry, that everyone in Tokyo was in shock, and that I could take a couple more days if I needed to.

Now my mother and stepfather in Minneapolis were CNN and CSPAN junkies on most days, and when I phoned them, I was surprised to learn that they had slept in that morning and for once, NOT watched TV. They were scheduled to meet with their financial adviser in the IDS building in downtown Minneapolis (one of the tallest buildings in the city), and as they were getting dressed, someone called from the financial firm to tell them that the building was shutting down "because of what happened in New York today." They had no idea what had happened in New York.

[cyberswede]

54. At work...

My sister called; I assumed it was a small plane, until I logged onto some news site.

A coworker and I went to one of our waiting rooms with a tv, along with dozens of other people, and watched live as the first building collapsed. It was terrible; I had to leave the room. Some time later, I stepped outside in time to see what must have been Air Force One flying over (I'm in Iowa), as all other flights had been grounded by then.

I seem to recall being unable to get on cnn.com, so I IM'd with some people I know in the Boston area trying to get more information. It was a very sobering experience - everyone around here was very subdued that day.

[ljm2002]

55. On the West Coast...

...at home in bed. Strangely, though, I awoke at 5:45am, not slowly but just like that: my eyes were open and I was wide awake. I of course did not know why, and did not turn on the TV until someone called me a bit later. But still, I've always thought that my waking up right when the first plane hit the tower was connected to it all somehow.

It certainly affected me deeply. I will never forget watching people plunge to their deaths from that high tower, never.

And I still want to know the truth about that day. If ever there was a reason to dig into the black ops that are continually being played on us and others around the world, that catastrophe is it.

Yes I want the truth. Until we get something that vaguely resembles a plausible story, I will continue to believe that in some form or another, it was our very own government who engineered it. MIHOP. It is the only explanation that fits the facts IMO.

[Arkansas Granny]

63. The people jumping from the buildings was the worst part for me.

I saw a video shot by emergency workers on the ground before the buildings fell and someone said that the loud thumping sounds were bodies hitting a canopy or covered walkway outside. I nearly got sick to my stomach. After that I had to leave the room any time I saw that footage being shown.

[tannybogus]

73. That was the worst part for me too.

It was all horrible, but that particularly gave me nightmares.

[Stinky The Clown]

57. We had just returned, the day before, from a convention/vacation at Disneyin Orlando

Our Sunday return actually was one day earlier than were were supposed to leave, but Sparkly was staring classes the next day (Monday, 9/11). The teevee came on automatically to serve as our alarm at probably 8.00 (I don't remember, exactly) The usual yadda yadda yadda was droning on.

And then the hit.

And then the second.

And I said "we're at war" (having predicted before Idiot Son was elected that we would be at war in the Middle East in hsi first term.)

We had many friends from, literally, all over the world, who were stranded for a few days in Orlando. One group rented a van and drove to San Rafael (just north of San Francisco), dropping four people at their homes along the way.

[lamp_shade]

58. kick

[Virginia Dare]

59. At work in Northwest D.C.

my first clue that something was up was when about 20 Black "official" looking vehicles went hauling down 20th Street. Not your regular motorcade. Then my phone started ringing withe friends and family making sure I was okay, as I catch the bus in from the Pentagon every morning. I had just been there about an hour before.

When they started evacuating buildings down by the White House, people just ran down a few blocks to where I was. It was odd seeing people running and looking over their shoulders like they expected something to explode any minute. There were NO COPS to be seen. For a while we had no idea if there were more planes coming in for D.C. There were all sorts of rumors going around, the a car bomb went off outside the State Department, etc. Our building went on lockdown.

We watched the towers fall on T.V. in our conference room. Later that afternoon, they let us go home, but I was afraid to get on the Metro, plus I normally caught a bus at the Pentagon, so I knew that wasn't happening.

A co-worker gave me a ride, and we drove near the Pentagon, across the Potomac River from it. Plumes of smoke were still billowing in the sky. The building smoldered for at least a day after that. The smell was horrible.

The next day I went into work, and the streets downtown were practically empty except for tanks and National Guard everywhere. It was the most surreal thing seeing the city of D.C. occupied by the U.S. military. Another eerie thing was the lack of air traffic in the sky. It was so noticeably quiet for days without that.

Weirdly enough several days later a tornado touched down right near there, which is a pretty rare occurrence. It was just overall a very bad week.

[stuntcat]

60. it was soon after my brain injury

I was out of the hospital, I was lying in bed at home. My mom called to tell me to turn on the tv.
She had to remind me that I'd worked at the World Trade Center once for a few months. I forgot the 90's and couldn't remember anything about living in NY, but when I first moved there in '97 I worked at the big Borders store at the bottom of one of the towers. Looking back now I can remember where the magazine section was in the store, that was my section. And I remember eating sandwiches on the stools between the towers. Most of my memories are lost for good though.

[alcibiades_mystery]

61. I saw the first plane hit from about 4 blocks north of the Towers: Chambers and Broadway

Stupidly, I kept going to work.

Was at Broadway and Wall when the second plane hit. After that, chaos.

[4_TN_TITANS]

65. At work in TN...

Ominous day. We got word quickly enough and followed what we could on the internet. I'll never forget how the morning went from normal to dead silence as the customer calls completely dropped off. Nobody knew what to expect, but we weren't hiding and shivering like our so-called president.

[Symarip]

66. Still in the Navy

Our ship, a heavily armed cruiser, was set to deploy to the Persian Gulf the next week. We were based out of Norfolk, VA. A few weeks prior, my orders to San Diego had arrived. I was not to join my fellow shipmates on their voyage. It's important to note, often before a deployment, the boats staff gets a vacation. Half of the staff leaves for a week or so while the other 50% stays manned, and the proceeding week the situation is reciprocated.

In the days leading up to September 11th, some bizarre events had taken place in my chain of command. Since I was leaving, I had to move most of my personal belongings (uniforms, personal hygeine items, etc) and release my rack (my bed) to a new sailor onboard. The reason for doing so was because our ship was over-manned. I fought this tooth and nail, reciting that in order to fulfill my duties on watch I would need uniforms and a rack. With the hierarchy threatening me with Captain's Mast, I naturally backed down and moved everything to my apartment. To those that don't know, most Sailors have a permanent bed on the ship, even if they have apartments or houses of base.

Now, as any sailor will tell you, there's nothing greater than the days leading up to a transfer. You turn over all your major responsibilities, and catch up on lots of sleep. It's basically a holiday on the job site. During those days, I'd show up to work and do muster at 7 AM, and immediately follow up with a brisk nap for a few hours (usually fighting a hangover). September 11th was no different that morning. I made my way down to Sonar 5, a space that not only has cable television but offers the patron an air conditioned space with no foot traffic, and promptly passed the fuck out until about 9 am or so.

My newest recruit in my division came charging into Sonar 5 and shook me from my slumber.

"PETTY OFFICER, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK. They're attacking. They're attacking. They're attacking us"

I remember looking at his face and realizing he wasn't fucking around. But nothing was happening. No bombs going off outside, the ship wasn't listing, we both had all our arms and legs. What the fuck is this kid talking about.

So I asked him, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

He turned on the TV just in time for me to see plane 2 collide into the second tower. It might have been a replay or it might have been live. I can't really remember because I wasn't fully awake yet. I actually thought it was a cartoon. And then reality kicked in... This was no cartoon or stunt. Whatever this was, it was real.

I jumped up and ordered him to our battlestation. Don't get me wrong, it's not like Sonar was going to save the US but I had a feeling that shit was going to hit the fan, and in theory, the battlestation is the safest place to be. He went on his way. I grabbed my cap and went up to the quarterdeck, where the watch team is. If I remember right, I was one of the most senior E5 onboard, or pretty close thereof. I needed some sort of orders, some sort of plan, and I wanted to help. There was nothing. Just phones ringing off the hook. I grabbed a few phone calls and tried to help sort out the mess that was unraveling. The big question was, what are we going to do? Half the staff of our boat is gone, with a good amount off doing personal business (realize a lot of planning goes into being gone for 6 months - banks, lenders, landlords, etc, all need to be informed). The last word I was getting from Base Headquarters was that they were shutting off all traffic in and out of the base.

Then the phones started to go in and out because the phone traffic was so heavy. Cellphones were useless. You'd be lucky to get to talk to anyone for more than a minute before the call was cut. Wives, husbands, loved ones, shipmates not onboard were all calling at once. No one knew what to do. On the quarterdeck, there was talk about upper enlisted, E5 and above, having access to the armory for access to weapons and bullet proof vests. I was starting to panic because in my heart of hearts, I knew that if my ship was attacked at that moment, we'd light up like a christmas tree. We had every type of missile imaginable nestled inside that puppy. And, by the way, a ship moored to a pier is pretty well useless when attacked (think Pearl Harbor).

I went back downstairs for a breather only to find that nothing on TV made sense. I remember watching a brigade of firemen walk into the towers. I headed to the smoking area back topside for a moment to sob a little. This was a lot to take in. Walking that 150 feet or so topside, it boggled my mind that this was such a beautiful day - clear skies with Summer like weather. Probably one of the nicest days I can remember living in that shithole. I remember looking up at the sky and wondering where it was going to come from. Y'know, that plane that had our name on it, too. Wouldn't it be grand if they took out a few heavily armed Naval combatants while they were at it?

The smoking area was quiet even though there were about 30 people sucking down cancer sticks. There was no sense in doing anything. We just had to wait for orders or a message from god or something. Someone came up, either a Chief or an Officer, and asked if I'd mind going down to the armory. I kind of made up in my mind at that moment, I'd have no problem dying for this country. Better me than one of the kids I have working for me (y'know, because I was the ripe age of 24). Anyhow, on the way down, I passed the Quarterdeck. I was informed my exwife had called to say that she loved me and that she was sorry. That's nice.

I headed on down to the armory, two or three floors below topside, when we were halted. The word was being passed on the speaker: everyone get topside, we're going to get underway. We were going to NYC. YES. Finally, we were going to start moving and stop sitting around like ducks.

We get topside and huddled up. There was barely 20% of the full staff onboard at that moment. This was going to be a bitch. Getting a boat underway, in itself is no small feat, let alone all the work that's done once you're moving. No bother, I was happy just to have a goal. And within hours, we were in the NYC Harbor. You'd be surprised how quickly a cruiser can travel at full speed.

For the next several days, we guarded the harbor entrance to NYC. I stayed awake for days. I didn't shower. I didn't have any clothes. I didn't have a rack to sleep in, not that I could sleep if I wanted to. I'd stand a watch, have a smoke and something to eat, and volunteer to stand another watch. Occassionally, we'd get news updates, but it was never anything good so I kind of tuned out. And everything was kind of in a blur anyhow, with the lack of sleep. I remember seeing the smoke of Ground Zero off on the horizon and hoping that somehow the news would have gotten to New York that we were no more than 15 miles away at all times in the ocean and that if anything happened, we'd take care of. I wanted people to sleep a little better.

When we got back, a week or so later, I was so happy to see the rest of my division on the pier. Hugs went all around. We exchanged 'what happened' stories. Some people were on vacation. Some people were not let on base because the base shut down. Some people were caught in traffic. One guy was on base but the buildings security wouldn't allow people to leave. All in all, I have never been happier to see the people I work.

Two days later, I watched the ship sail off for their deployment, and for the first time since I walked onto the boat 4 years prior, I wasn't on it.

[MadrasT]

78. Thank you for writing this.

I was really moved. And thank you for protecting us. :patriot: :hug:

[CatBO]

67. My experience in Northern Virginia

I lived in northern Virginia at the time. I lived and worked within 2 miles of Dulles airport.

I was at the doctor's office next door to my place of work, waiting to get a checkup for some allergy medicine when I heard it announced on the local radio station which was playing quietly over the speakers. The way they said it, they made it sound like a small plane had crashed into the WTC. I recall sitting in the waiting room, envisioning a Cessna hanging out of the building.

I went into the doctor's office, where they drew blood and we talked. When we came out from behind the closed doors, the radio was up on the counter and everyone was gathered around it. Another plane had crashed into the other tower. My first thought literally was, "What is going on with these crazy pilots these days?" I left and walked back to my office.

There, on the Internet I saw the pages at CNN and saw that these weren't just two small misguided planes. I called my boyfriend (who is now my husband) who worked from home, 3 miles away. I told him to turn on the news. Together we talked on the phone as I scoured the Internet for details and he turned from channel to channel, shocked.

Suddenly I heard from behind me, "Oh God they got the Pentagon!" I said to my husband, "They hit the Pentagon!" He checked every channel, and I checked every website, and he said, "No, no they haven't hit the Pentagon." Ten minutes later he said, "Oh my God you were right they got the Pentagon."

We later found out that the reason the woman behind me said that was because she was on IM with a friend of hers who worked at the Pentagon. Her friend IM'ed her, "They just hit here, we have to go!" and evacuated. The news agencies didn't pick it up until several minutes later.

We had no nearby televisions so we clustered around our computers furiously trying to get more news. Rumors started to crop up. "They" were bombing the Mall, the Capitol. None of us knew quite who "they" were although we were starting to hear about "Al Qaeda" for the first time.

A few minutes later we were evacuated from our building by our office manager. I worked at the time for the company that hosts the top level domains (.com, .net, .org). Our data center was in the building. An attack on our data center would have disabled Internet traffic greatly and given our proximity to Dulles, our management decided to evacuate all non-essential personnel.

I went to my husband's house, where together we watched in his basement all day long. We called and cancelled our flights for the next day. He was to fly from Dulles to Logan. I was to fly from Dulles to LAX. Both of us were going to be flying for business, and we were shocked that planes leaving from our airport to those same destinations were used. In fact, you could politely say I freaked out about that for several months.

Our world changed in DC. Immediately noticeable was the silence in the air. Every day as I drove home from work I passed the landing strip at Dulles to my right, and there were always planes landing and taking off. The silence from those missing planes was profound.

On the heels of 9/11 came the anthrax attacks, some which came right through my mail facility. The following fall brought us attacks by the DC Snipers. I lost my love for the northern Virginia, and the seeds were planted to get out of being so close to the nations capital, which we have done.

The week before 9/11, that very Tuesday 9/4, I stood at the foot of the World Trade Center after a trip up to NYC. I never went up in it but I remarked to my business partner, "Wow those things are huge. I'm glad they didn't take them out back in the 90's." I slept in the Marriott next to the WTC that night. So many close calls for me personally, I felt like my footprints had been all over the airports and the sites that were hit on 9/11, and it freaked me out a lot... Just ask my therapist at the time.

My thoughts still go out to the victims and their families. At the time I imagined so vividly what it must have been like on those planes, or in the buildings, I couldn't sleep for a long, long time. I resent that our country has not done more to build memorials and bring the true people responsible for 9/11 to justice. That is why I am a Democrat.

[dropkickpa]

68. I was living at my mom's, getting ready to go to work

Little brother was listening to Howard Stern and heard them report the 1st plane hit, and he ran into the room and told us to turn on the TV and as we watched, we saw the 2nd plane hit. I told him and my mom right then "That was no accident, I bet it's the same guys from '93." and predicted that Bush would take us to war with Iraq, whether or not they had anything to do with it (of course, I predicted he'd find an excuse to do that the minute he was sElected, so I'm no great clairvoyant). Went to work and turned the TV's at the counter (worked at a video store) to the news. Watched everything unfold in horror. Got home and sat in front of the TV to continue watching.

**we were concerned for a bit, because my Dad had been planning on stopping by to visit friends at the port authority there while he was on business in Newark that week, and we didn't know if he'd gone that day. My mom called his hotel room, but he didn't answer. He called very shortly after the 2nd plane hit to reassure us that he was not there (he had been in the shower and just caught the 2nd impact on the news when he was getting ready), but my poor mom fielded phone calls for a couple of days from people he worked with from around the world asking "Was M*** there in New York? Is he okay?". I can't imagine what people in NYC, with family at the WTC, etc were feeling, because that 20 minutes or so of not knowing scared the crap out of us.

[arcadian]

70. Asleep in Hawaii

[onethatcares]

71. I was planing 1x10 down to bevel siding for a house remodel

until 12:00 noon, I didn't have a radio. One of the other guys came by to see if I was still working. My first thought, believe it or not, "there goes the United States, won't be long before we have soldiers in the streets with machine guns".

[Cid_B]

74. Sophomore Year in College

... see a few people go zippin past the door in the hall.. then a few more.. then a freaking stampede. Everyone knew they were getting called up and TVs were extremely scarce. Only SRs allowed to have em so just cramming in and watchin...

[Errrica]

75. I was in middle school.

I had PE at the time, so we were in the gym without a television. When class got out, our friends who had classes in actual classrooms that period were rushing around telling everyone. I didn't really understand it at first. When I got to my next class, we watched it on TV for a little while. My mom picked me up early from school a little while later.

[proud2BlibKansan]

76. On my way to school

My son called me on my cell phone to tell me a plane had just hit the WTC. I got to school about 10 minutes later and everyone was crowded around TVs watching it. About a half hour later, the kids arrived and we turned off the TVs and had school. I was irritated; I thought the kids should be able to watch it on TV, it was history in the making. But the principal said no, turn off the TVs and let's be as normal as possible.

That night one of my friends who teaches at another school in my district called to tell me her principal had said yes, keep the TVs on so the kids can watch. Her school was, like mine, full of the children of immigrants from all over the world. And when the TV in a 3rd grade classroom showed the plane hitting the WTC, a boy from Saudi Arabia stood up on his desk and cheered. It took 3 teachers to pull the other kids off of him.

I was glad then that we had not turned on our TVs.

The other thing I remember so well from that day (and this may have been a few days later) is watching that film of Bush sitting there in that 1st grade classroom, just staring into space and not moving. The very first thing I did when I found out we had been attacked was call my husband, then I called my mother and my 3 sisters. And it still just blows my mind that Bush just sat there and didn't at least want to call his wife and daughters and make sure they were okay. And I guess that's when I became LIHOP.

[PVnRT]

77. Reading DU at work in North Chicago

Reading updates from local news saying that they were evacuating downtown.

Then I had a job interview that afternoon.

[MadrasT]

79. 1000 miles from home... in Orlando Florida.

At a big conference. Was in a breakout session when one of the conference coordinators (the people that run around like mad with clipboards to make sure everything happens on schedule) came in to the session and told us the first plane had hit and it looked like maybe a terrorist attack.

The session continued another 10 minutes, but rapidly dissembled.

The conference pretty much came to a halt and for the rest of the day, 4000 people clustered around big TVs in the hotel lobby.

I tried to call work (in Philly). Took a couple of hours to get through. Nobody answered. I got voice mail. They had all gone home. Unheard of. We don't shut down. Ever.

I was stuck in Orlando for another 5 days. It was really odd being so far from home when something that big happens.

[ddeclue]

80. In my apartment in Fort Lauderdale getting ready for work.

Went to work but they sent us home after an hour.

I went to Aventura Mall in Aventura FL and worked at a Red Cross mobile van that took blood donations all day until the evening and I gave blood. That was the day I started taking the Red Cross seriously as a way to do something for my community.

Ironically, today I just took a job that will return me back to the Fort Lauderdale area. I began the Bush administration nightmare in South Florida and it looks like it will end there for me too.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[rainbow4321]

81. Driving back from dropping my daughter off at school

Heard it on news radio.."plane has hit the WTC". My first mental image was a Cessna or other small plane. Til I got home and turned the TV on.
Called family who was already getting the news from other family members when I called.

Glued to the TV from there on out. Saw an explosion from the second tower, thought it was fire that had spread from the first tower. Til the replays/reports showed the second plane.

Got on the computer...jumped out of my skin when the light bulb next to my computer went out making the only light in the room go off.

Went and filled up with gas at some point once it all started to sink in.
Headed to the bank to get most of my money out, had the teller say "sorry, because of the "incident" in NY, we are not allowing large withdrawls". Logically, I knew the bank was right but still in panic/survive mode I found a way around their new rule and asked for it all in traveller's checks. Teller was not happy that I found a loophole. Got my money. Went back home and watched TV pretty much 24/7 from then on out for days.

[OHDEM]

82. I was off that day when my mom called...

She said to turn on the television to see the 1st tower burning. My dad is a firefighter here in Ohio & he was in the background saying that there was no way they could put it out if there was a lot of jet fuel up there. I left the room for a minute & my boyfriend (now husband) started yelling, "Another plane just hit." I remember stopping for a minute like my brain just froze up. "How can that be?" I started to cry when the 1st tower fell. I thought of all the firefighters & police that must have died - I know how tight-knit those guys are. I remember the feeling of fear when they said other hijacked planes were in the air & wondering what else they would do. The horror of it all came in waves. What about the people on those planes? What about the people stuck in those buildings? What about the firefighters inside & the first responders on the ground? We fell asleep with the TV on all night - unable to turn it off. The following day was more heartache as we saw the families looking for those they love. Heartbreaking!

[JackBeck]

83. I was in bed. Completely unaware of what was going on.

Back then, I was working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights bartending in Park Slope, Brooklyn. My shift lasted from 5pm in 5am, so I usually didn't get up until about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. God, I'm glad those days are over.

I remember waking-up early in the morning from some rumbling sound off in the distance. We lived right across the river in downtown Brooklyn, but I didn't pay it any mind, since the road we were living on was under construction and I figured it was just work being done on Atlantic Avenue.

And then the phone started ringing. Again, I passed it off as another attempt by my mother to nag me about not calling her every day to check-in, and went back to sleep.

Around noon my husband came home, which woke me up as he struggled to unlock the front door, and I could hear him just completely sobbing as he approached the bedroom. He walked in and all he could say was, "They're attacking us!" I swear I felt my body levitate out of bed as I ran to the TV to figure out what he was talking about. He had just walked all the way from 56th Street and 5th Avenue, over the Manhattan Bridge, passing people covered in ashes telling him to turn around and go the other way. He didn't know any other way and said the scariest part was crossing the Manhattan Bridge, not knowing whether or not it would blow-up as he crossed.

I struggled with whether or not I was going to open the bar that evening, but not knowing whether or not I may have lost any friends motivated me to suck it up and do it for the community, even though I was in complete shock.

By the time I got to the bar, the streets and tables in the bar's backyard were covered with layers of burnt paper and soot. At first, I figured there must have been a local house fire, but once I put it together, I was stunned at how much stuff was floating over from lower Manhattan.

And don't even get me started about the smell. It lasted for months.

The bar was absolutely packed for the entire evening. We were located on one of the more favorable paths to take in Brooklyn, so there was a constant stream of people walking by the bar, whether they stopped in that evening or not. Same thing happened the night of the infamous blackout, which I also happened to be working the evening of.

[slackmaster]

84. At home, at my desk, bleary-eyed from need of coffee, looking at the home page of Yahoo

I did a double-take, then another double-take, then turned on the TV.

About an hour later my boss called me to say work was cancelled for the day.

[JuniperLea]

85. I just got out of the shower...

... in time to see the second plane hit, live. I was working in a building in Century City that housed the west coast offices of many of the firms that were in the WTC. I was managing the reception department (five person reception department; 2000 employees). I knew my lead receptionist had already started work, so I called her. She said the building was closing because it was a "target" and that no more people were going to be allowed in. I told her to get the hell out of there! She stayed for a while to relay messages between the CEO, Treasurer, etc. They kept telling her to do things! I told her to get her ass out of there and if anyone got after her for it, they could talk to me. Those guys had BlackBerries and cell phones... that was just wrong!

I spoke with many people in many different firms in both WTC buildings all the time. My boss had meetings scheduled there on 9/12/01... needless to say, his flights were canceled for the night of 9/11. Our NYC office at Wall and Pine opened their doors to shelter people running from ground zero... we heard stories for weeks.

I sat fixated on the news all day... and hugged my kids.

Later that month we learned that our building was indeed a west coast target.

Now Bush says Bin Laden wasn't the mastermind... like I'd believe anything that rat bastard has to say. Someone needs to remind him that this horrific event happened UNDER HIS WATCH!

[MikeH]

87. I didn't hear about it until about 6 hours after it happened

I live in San Diego, California, and was working off and on at a consulting job at that time, and that day was during one of the times I did not have any work to do.

Being in California, the events happened before 6:00 my time, while I was still in bed. I got up probably about 9:00, and went to one of the local restaurants for breakfast. I did not hear anything about what happened on my car radio; my radio was tuned to the local classical music station as it usually is, and either I missed it or the station did not mention it. The particular station I listened to at the time got their programming from a network which was based in Boston.

I had breakfast as usual in the restaurant, and did not hear anything from anybody that something unusual had happened.

I finally heard about what happened when I got home around 11:30 or noon, and booted up my computer and logged on to the internet, and saw that the World Trade Center had been attacked, and saw the pictures and videos of it happening.

After that things seemed very unreal, and my memories are a blur. I was at my computer most of that day, as I remember.

I remember that * was unpopular right before the attacks. I was really worried about his 90% approval rating following the attacks, and the prospect of war (which did indeed happen).

[The Hope Mobile]

89. I also thought "that's it! we're going to war. no question"

We debated whether or not to send our kids to school.

[The Hope Mobile]

88. In bed in California, until my sister called from the east coast

Spent the rest of the day staring at the tube realizing that what I'd been fearing for most of the year before had come to pass . . . and saying "Oh my God, look who's in the White House?" We needed Bill desperately. But then, if Bill had been there, it never would've happened. IMHO:cry:

[Kool Kitty]

90. I was asleep. My husband called and

told me to turn on the TV, because a plane had flown into one of the Trade Center's towers. He had just gotten to work at UMDNJ in Newark, and was on the top deck of the parking garage there-full view of the WTC from there. As I was turning on the TV, he yelled, "Holy shit-the other tower just exploded!" He was on the other side of the building and could not see that a second plane had hit it. He hung up and I just watched the whole horrible day unfold.

[AtomicKitten]

91. Drinking coffee on my sofa in Capitola, CA waiting for my son to finish his breakfast before school.