9/11: Out of the Blue
Sept 10, 2011 0:46:57 GMT
Post by gretchenpc on Sept 10, 2011 0:46:57 GMT
Not sure if this technically "on topic" but I thought I'd share my story about 9/11. It's not that much different from everyone else's, but for some reason it does feel like it's time to sit and reflect on where I was and how I felt that day.
I had gone back to college to finish up the requirements for my teaching degree. One particular class required us to partner with a classmate and go to a local high school once a week to observe a class. I can't even remember the person's name I was partnered with. But I remember on the way over to the school, she drove and we were listening to Howard Stern on the radio. I had never listened to him before, but she was a regular listener. We were parking the car at the school when he was talking about reports of a plane hitting the WTC. We laughed it off thinking, 'What an idiot! Who flies a plane into a building!?' because we thought it was just some small plane and a stupid accident.
After our time in the classroom, we went to the office to sign out (as visitors we had to sign in and out, of course), and we noticed the people in the office were acting very strange. We got back in the car and Stern was reporting that both towers had been hit, and tower one had collapsed AND the Pentagon had been hit.
Needless to say, we both freaked out. It was a feeling I had never felt before. Up until that point, it had always seemed to me that we were untouchable in this country. A totally naive view, of course, but it was what it was. And I remember being so scared because I didn't know what to expect next. We had no idea. We just knew they kept saying we were "under attack" on the radio, and those were words I NEVER thought I'd hear about my country.
We sped back to campus. I didn't live at school, I commuted almost an hour each way, so I ran to the student center where there was a big-screen TV in the common area. The place was usually pretty quiet, but there were dozens of people standing and sitting everywhere staring at the image on the screen. I can't remember if the second tower had fallen by then, I think it had. I just stared in disbelief. I had been in those towers and now they were gone.
I had a class that evening, but it was canceled due to the attacks.
I drove home. I tuned my radio to Stern's program because he was staying on the air past his normal time slot. Because he was right IN the heart of NYC he had a perspective that was much more immediate than other stations, of course. I listened to him for several weeks after that while the country dealt with the reality of what had happened.
When I got home, I called my mother at her work and we chatted briefly about it. I went to her house when she was home and we sat glued to the TV that night. And for the next several weeks.
I attended a candlelight memorial service on campus a few nights later and cried with everyone else.
In the weeks that followed I remember my shock, fear, and sadness turning to outrage and even anger at the people responsible. Like a lot of Americans, I bought a flag magnet to stick on my car and a t-shirt with the flag and "9-11-01: We Will Never Forget" on the front.
As years have past, I've done like most and put it in the back of my mind. When Bin Laden was killed, I did watch some of the footage of the attacks again, and felt at least a small sense of satisfaction knowing the mastermind behind it had finally been brought to justice.
This year, because it is the ten-year anniversary and because of Bin Laden's assassination, it it does seem like the memory is very raw again. They're reporting a lot of "chatter" and have beefed up security in NYC due to some "credible" threats they've been picking up on. I'm not sure I feel safer...I don't think we'll EVER feel as safe as we did pre-9/11. How could we?
Anyway, that was long and rambling, but I feel better, LOL.
I had gone back to college to finish up the requirements for my teaching degree. One particular class required us to partner with a classmate and go to a local high school once a week to observe a class. I can't even remember the person's name I was partnered with. But I remember on the way over to the school, she drove and we were listening to Howard Stern on the radio. I had never listened to him before, but she was a regular listener. We were parking the car at the school when he was talking about reports of a plane hitting the WTC. We laughed it off thinking, 'What an idiot! Who flies a plane into a building!?' because we thought it was just some small plane and a stupid accident.
After our time in the classroom, we went to the office to sign out (as visitors we had to sign in and out, of course), and we noticed the people in the office were acting very strange. We got back in the car and Stern was reporting that both towers had been hit, and tower one had collapsed AND the Pentagon had been hit.
Needless to say, we both freaked out. It was a feeling I had never felt before. Up until that point, it had always seemed to me that we were untouchable in this country. A totally naive view, of course, but it was what it was. And I remember being so scared because I didn't know what to expect next. We had no idea. We just knew they kept saying we were "under attack" on the radio, and those were words I NEVER thought I'd hear about my country.
We sped back to campus. I didn't live at school, I commuted almost an hour each way, so I ran to the student center where there was a big-screen TV in the common area. The place was usually pretty quiet, but there were dozens of people standing and sitting everywhere staring at the image on the screen. I can't remember if the second tower had fallen by then, I think it had. I just stared in disbelief. I had been in those towers and now they were gone.
I had a class that evening, but it was canceled due to the attacks.
I drove home. I tuned my radio to Stern's program because he was staying on the air past his normal time slot. Because he was right IN the heart of NYC he had a perspective that was much more immediate than other stations, of course. I listened to him for several weeks after that while the country dealt with the reality of what had happened.
When I got home, I called my mother at her work and we chatted briefly about it. I went to her house when she was home and we sat glued to the TV that night. And for the next several weeks.
I attended a candlelight memorial service on campus a few nights later and cried with everyone else.
In the weeks that followed I remember my shock, fear, and sadness turning to outrage and even anger at the people responsible. Like a lot of Americans, I bought a flag magnet to stick on my car and a t-shirt with the flag and "9-11-01: We Will Never Forget" on the front.
As years have past, I've done like most and put it in the back of my mind. When Bin Laden was killed, I did watch some of the footage of the attacks again, and felt at least a small sense of satisfaction knowing the mastermind behind it had finally been brought to justice.
This year, because it is the ten-year anniversary and because of Bin Laden's assassination, it it does seem like the memory is very raw again. They're reporting a lot of "chatter" and have beefed up security in NYC due to some "credible" threats they've been picking up on. I'm not sure I feel safer...I don't think we'll EVER feel as safe as we did pre-9/11. How could we?
Anyway, that was long and rambling, but I feel better, LOL.
