Where were you when 9/11 happened?
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I was in school. Despite being in the next country over, since we're only about 8 hours by car from New York everyone was scared shitless, students where called to the gym or cafeteria depending on the grade and everyone got picked up by their parents. I was confused as hell and it was only when I got home that I saw the news reports. Was too young at the time to really understand the significance of it all, and given how young I was while I do have a fair bit of memory from the years before the event I'm pretty much the high end for "doesn't know what pre-911 means".
I was asleep... I woke up... My mom was watching news footage of the first tower burning/falling before the second tower followed suit... It was not until two days later when my class got a sub that I even know what was even happening that day... Nothing like a third grade class talking about 9/11 and terrorism with a substitute teacher...
Other than that, I remember the movies that tires to cash in on the tragedy and/or aftermath more... I think one of them won a Oscar...
Other than that, I remember the movies that tires to cash in on the tragedy and/or aftermath more... I think one of them won a Oscar...
I was about 18, sleeping, my brothers (now ex) girlfriend was screaming like a banshee that there was a terrorist attack. I turned on the TV to see. Planes flew into the world trade center. I didn't care too much. So I went back to sleep.
The TV was all about the attacks for the rest of the day. Forget what else I did.
I remember most of all the stupid ideas she had like "They're going to fly a plane right on top of our house!" nonsense and how everyone in the world is going to have planes crash into monuments and stuff.
Nothing really happened. What irritated me the most is that a year later I hear "It's already been a year." and I realized it would be something that we'd have to hear about EVERY year for the rest of our lives.
I don't know how to understand how it's like some kind of "worse thing that ever happened in history" that it gets treated like. It was bad. But until the next terrorist attack (be realistic, it'll happen eventually), it's only the most recent one that hit America (excluding school shootings because that's a country attacking itself kind of). Then whatever new attack will become (maybe) the worst one we all have to remember.
Does anyone remember how lax and comfortable the boarding process for air planes used to be?
Before the war on Iraq that somehow came from 9/11 that had nothing to do with 9/11 and with all the extra oil they procured that all the gas prices skyrocketed along with the price of everything else by at least a 50 cents on every item (and some as much as 2 dollars).
A carton of egg whites used to cost $1. Now it's $3.50. I saved $400 one month eating nothing but egg whites. Now my bank account is bleeding out and all I really buy is food.
The TV was all about the attacks for the rest of the day. Forget what else I did.
I remember most of all the stupid ideas she had like "They're going to fly a plane right on top of our house!" nonsense and how everyone in the world is going to have planes crash into monuments and stuff.
Nothing really happened. What irritated me the most is that a year later I hear "It's already been a year." and I realized it would be something that we'd have to hear about EVERY year for the rest of our lives.
I don't know how to understand how it's like some kind of "worse thing that ever happened in history" that it gets treated like. It was bad. But until the next terrorist attack (be realistic, it'll happen eventually), it's only the most recent one that hit America (excluding school shootings because that's a country attacking itself kind of). Then whatever new attack will become (maybe) the worst one we all have to remember.
Does anyone remember how lax and comfortable the boarding process for air planes used to be?
Before the war on Iraq that somehow came from 9/11 that had nothing to do with 9/11 and with all the extra oil they procured that all the gas prices skyrocketed along with the price of everything else by at least a 50 cents on every item (and some as much as 2 dollars).
A carton of egg whites used to cost $1. Now it's $3.50. I saved $400 one month eating nothing but egg whites. Now my bank account is bleeding out and all I really buy is food.
I don't remember much. I remember that I was 6 and in kindergarten at the time. I think I was picked up by my mom and she explained to me. In what I can only call a possible sign of sociopathy, I shrugged my shoulders and forgot about it until the next day, when everyone was chanting "USA! USA!" and I remember thinking to myself "Oh yeah, that thing with the airplanes."
And, to further prove how fucking ignorant I am of the world at large, it wasn't until 8th grade, 8 whole years later, that I learned that there was also an attack on the Pentagon and the attempt on Washington, D.C. using two more planes hijacked at the same time. Even today, I maintain an amount of emotional detachment towards it. I don't think that it was nothing. I just don't really care.
And, to further prove how fucking ignorant I am of the world at large, it wasn't until 8th grade, 8 whole years later, that I learned that there was also an attack on the Pentagon and the attempt on Washington, D.C. using two more planes hijacked at the same time. Even today, I maintain an amount of emotional detachment towards it. I don't think that it was nothing. I just don't really care.
At the time, I had a radio/alarm clock that let me select which song of a CD to wake up to. I was going through all the CDs I had, looking for what song was the least unpleasant to wake up to (full consciousness isn't bad, but the way we get here truly sucks). That's how it came to pass that on that morning, I woke up to Billy Joel's Miami 2017, which is essentially about New York being destroyed. I had my school schedule set up so that my first two periods of each day were free (read: I could sleep in), and so when I came downstairs, Mom told me a plane had hit the world trade center. I jokingly said "Again?", but saw from her reaction that this was clearly no joke. We sat and watched the news until the second plane hit, and about then, it was time for me to leave for school. I should've known better; it's not like anyone was going to be teaching that day, but my brain was still in "Holy Shit!" mode (as was pretty much everyone's, at least at first).
We spent the day in school sitting silently watching the TV coverage, wincing as each further step in the plan was revealed (remember, it wasn't just those two planes). The only clear thought I remember having was that I shouldn't've skipped breakfast- until the first tower collapsed. As I watched, I realized that this was going to mean war. "Some collection of angry dipshits," I thought "has engaged in the biggest misreading of American will since the Pearl Harbor attack, and now another country's going to be flattened.". This was especially worrisome, since I was coming up on my eighteenth birthday. The prospect of spending the next eight years waiting for the SS to come knocking at the door was bad enough by itself, with the looming war against whoever had done this hanging over my head... needless to say, it was a very bad day.
We spent the day in school sitting silently watching the TV coverage, wincing as each further step in the plan was revealed (remember, it wasn't just those two planes). The only clear thought I remember having was that I shouldn't've skipped breakfast- until the first tower collapsed. As I watched, I realized that this was going to mean war. "Some collection of angry dipshits," I thought "has engaged in the biggest misreading of American will since the Pearl Harbor attack, and now another country's going to be flattened.". This was especially worrisome, since I was coming up on my eighteenth birthday. The prospect of spending the next eight years waiting for the SS to come knocking at the door was bad enough by itself, with the looming war against whoever had done this hanging over my head... needless to say, it was a very bad day.
Going to TAFE.
At the time it didn't seem like a big deal, "The US bombs some country I've not heard of" appeared in the news a lot so "Someone attacks the US" seemed like more of the same.
At the time it didn't seem like a big deal, "The US bombs some country I've not heard of" appeared in the news a lot so "Someone attacks the US" seemed like more of the same.
I was at school at the time. I don't remember if I'd made it to a class or if I was partway to my first period class when it happened but I recall being called back to home room (it was a school-wide announcement) and sitting in there for about an hour or two with those people, watching events as they happened on that classroom's TV. I'm fairly certain I saw the second plane hit as it happened in real-time but I recall that footage being re-used for the follow few months so it's possible that I didn't. I can't remember if I was in 6th or 7th grade...I remember the school being dismissed before 10am or so and I walked home from school because it's what I always did. I don't remember being too phased by what was going on because I was a shitty child though I do remember being really disturbed by the numerous low-flying planes that seemed to go by over the next month or so.
I was in first grade, which puts me between 7-8 years old. I don't recall much honestly, just that we were all told to not leave the classroom and I think I recall my teacher crying. I guess my mom also wanted to pick my sister and I up from school due to how close we are to Wright Patt Airforce Base.
That's about it.
Edit: Wait! Turns out I'm the biggest fucking idiot on this site. I was six. I guess getting the difference between 2001 and 1995 was too difficult for me a few minutes ago.
That's about it.
Edit: Wait! Turns out I'm the biggest fucking idiot on this site. I was six. I guess getting the difference between 2001 and 1995 was too difficult for me a few minutes ago.
I was 6th grader. My usual routine is get home, turn on tv and make myself a cup noodle. Instead of my usual tv program, the footage from 9/11 was on.
I was three years old at the time had probably just gotten to kindergarden so my best guess would be weaving on the floor. my mum tels me that she was following my sister to school when and found the schoolyard full of nervous parents
In bed, then stuck in the basement at work stranded for a ride and watching CNN freak the fuck out all day.
I think it was a bright, sunny day. I was eleven when my mom called to me from the living room and said that there'd been a plane crash in America. I think my response to it was something along the lines of: "Okay, so what?" It didn't really mean anything to me. When it was later said to be a terrorist strike, I still didn't care that much about the whole thing.
On the next school day our teacher talked briefly about it, but I honestly don't remember any of it. I was just thinking "why are people still talking about it?" No disrespect to anyone, but it was just a thing that happened in a very distant country to me.
On the next school day our teacher talked briefly about it, but I honestly don't remember any of it. I was just thinking "why are people still talking about it?" No disrespect to anyone, but it was just a thing that happened in a very distant country to me.
Looking back on the calendar, it was a Tuesday I think, so school probably? I don't know, I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and didn't care an ounce about the news so I never saw the footage. It wasn't a very big deal to me at the time.
I don't know about it being the "most significant single historical event" I have experienced. I saw the Falklands war, Tiananmen Square demonstrations, the Berlin Wall coming down and the collapse of the Soviet Union. I'd say all those were more historically significant than what was, essentially, just another (though extremely large) mass murder in a country already notorious for mass murders.
However, as to where I was on 11/9/2001, I recall having just come back to a friend's apartment after a few of us had been out for dinner (my time zone is UTC+8) and we turned on the TV to see if there was anything on. This was after the first plane had hit but before the second so there were news reports on all channels. It was more fascinating than worrying, since it was happening on the opposite side of the world. I might have been more concerned if I had realised how much governments world-wide would try to use this one event as an excuse to curtail civil liberties, bring in draconian laws, and waste money and lives on ridiculous undertakings like the second Iraq war. Honestly, I feel the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Don't let it be like Pearl Harbour, America. Don't let it become another grudge you stubbornly hold on to for generations.
However, as to where I was on 11/9/2001, I recall having just come back to a friend's apartment after a few of us had been out for dinner (my time zone is UTC+8) and we turned on the TV to see if there was anything on. This was after the first plane had hit but before the second so there were news reports on all channels. It was more fascinating than worrying, since it was happening on the opposite side of the world. I might have been more concerned if I had realised how much governments world-wide would try to use this one event as an excuse to curtail civil liberties, bring in draconian laws, and waste money and lives on ridiculous undertakings like the second Iraq war. Honestly, I feel the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Don't let it be like Pearl Harbour, America. Don't let it become another grudge you stubbornly hold on to for generations.
I was a high school sophomore. My father was driving me to school and turned on the radio to listen to NPR like we usually did. We caught the initial reaction to the first plane hitting, though I had to leave before we heard much else. It wasn't until Biology class a few hours later that I learned about the second plane and the Pentagon being hit (no smartphones back then).
Aside from a few words from our teachers acknowledging the event, it was more or less business as usual at school. It was a deliberate decision by the faculty; they wanted to convey to us that the best course of action was to continue with one's normal life and not be gripped by fear. There's a reason why they're called "terrorists," after all. If only the rest of the country was so cool-headed...but that's another can of worms...
Aside from a few words from our teachers acknowledging the event, it was more or less business as usual at school. It was a deliberate decision by the faculty; they wanted to convey to us that the best course of action was to continue with one's normal life and not be gripped by fear. There's a reason why they're called "terrorists," after all. If only the rest of the country was so cool-headed...but that's another can of worms...