Where were you on 9/11, 7 years ago today?

[sarbin]

I remember the day perfectly...

I had gone to the office early for a transatlantic videoconference. Someone on the far end broke into the conversation and said "A plane just crashed into the WTC! It's on the tele!". The meeting ended early and that marked the beginning of a very tough day.

I had one of those little Sony TVs in my office and immediately dug it out and turned it on to find a news broadcast. As colleagues heard that I had it, people started crowding into my office. At one point there were a dozen people crowded into a space that was tight with four. The reception was not good, but people would catch a glimpse of the fuzzy pictures and then run off to try to find friends and loved ones. Thankfully, all were accounted for in the end.

And I remember calling and talking to every single member of my family... and appreciating each one of them so much more.

It was an absolutely surreal day... and I will never forget it.

Peace, All.

[spuddog]

I was at work, but my son was in his first semester at NYU. He watched all from his bedroom. It was a tough time.

Scott

[Trekk69]

In Ethics class in high school, an announcement came over the PA

[rkawakami]

Just woken up (I'm a late sleeper AND I'm on the Left Coast). Could not wrap my head around it for several minutes; thought it was a dream. Normal morning radio shows replaced with grim news reports. Later found out that my wife knew the pilot of UAL93; they went to school together here in San Jose.

[tfflivemb2]

I was on the Metra going into Chicago...somewhere around Evanston, when my mom called me on my cell phone. She wasn't making any sense, then there was this roar of cell phones and conversation on the train.

Ironically, it then became the quietest train ride that I had EVER taken....

[sparta.rising]

Trying to calm down the girl whose father was supposed to be on the flight out of Boston but missed the flight because of traffic

[qviri]

School. I didn't understand why people were so concerned.

[Harryc]

Was at work...left early to be with the family. The thing I remember most was the fear of not knowing when/where the next plane would hit. It was like the US was being invaded ...

[ajkula66]

In Carnegie Hall, NYC, putting up a T-1...didn't get home to Brooklyn (where we lived at the time) for the next 36 hours...and to find the car completely covered with ashes from what happened 20 miles away...

I can't watch any stuff on TV today...find it upsetting and angering for a variety of reasons, and can't afford such emotions at the moment...

May everyone who was lost that day rest in peace, and that goes for all the selfless people who got deadly sick working on "The Pile" as well...amen.

[jdhurst]

I was at work for someone (Long time back now, since I work for myself). There was a television in the Boardroom, so we all congregated up there. There was enough concern that the office officially closed, people left for home in an orderly way. The next day was still a tough day. ... JDH

[schen]

Teaching a Freshman class at Estacado High School in Lubbock, Texas. I spent the rest of the day trying to explain what happened. It was a tough day at school, but nothing like what I imagine it was like in the Northeast.

[Purcy]

My husband and I were at home watching what we thought must be a movie or something... only to be horrified that it was real news. Only the Sept before (2000) we made a trip to NYC for a week and had dinner at the top of one of the Towers, Windows of the World. We have been to NYC many times since then, but we cannot go to the financial district, I don't know if I ever will again. I cannot contain the pain of it. It is important to remember.......... and give prayers for the many lost souls.

[mattbiernat]

in Spanish class, my teacher has completely dismissed attacks..

[jronald]

I was at work and caught the 2nd plane live on the TV as it hit. One of the gals said, "what a terrible accident", my comment was "that was no accident"

I remember crying like a little child 3 days later when my son was born 5 weeks early that my mother could barley understand what I was telling her. Just so incredibly confused that I had brought him into this totally fubared world, and not at all sure where his place in this world was. He turns 7 in just a few days, my wife and I have an unwritten, nonverbal pack that we will never associate that day with his birth.We dont watch the videos,we dont allow him to watch them. Sooner or later he will figure out just how close the two dates are but until he makes that leap of faith, Im not prepared to acknowledge it .

Ron

[bill bolton]

I had just finished a late evening tele-conference at home, and walked into the family room to make sure the VCR was set up to record a TV program overnight, before going to bed.

After switching on the TV there was picture of a single skyscraper in daylight with smoke pouring out of it, and my first thought was that it was just a scene from late night (disaster) movie rerun.... but the point of view didn't cut away after a few seconds as it would have in a movie, so I started to pay real attention to what was on the screen.

I watched the whole thing play out live until about 4am in the morning Sydney time, fearful for my friends who lived in that general vicinity in Manhattan (fortunately they were not heavily impacted as it turned out).

As chance would have it, a very similar domestic scenario played out for me with the London tube bombing, which I also stayed up pretty much all night watching play out.

Bill B.

[bobbarker]

English Class, all rooms had CNN + TVs until our school cut the cable so we wouldn't watch it. Turned on the radio instead and listened to it happen.

[skitty4gzus]

I was framing a house. We were workin on the second floor and didnt have the roof on yet and we heard over the radio station something was up. It was a pretty hard rock station so they weren't very often serious. We all stopped working and gathered around the radio and listened in shock. I remember a plane going overhead very low, but obviously landing at CVG there in norther kentucky. I remember my boss getting upset because the nail guns stopped going and no work was getting done and he didnt know what was up yet. We basically listened in as the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. It was unbelievable. Almost as unbelievable was the hysteria afterwards and the people going nuts trying to get cash from ATM machines and the gas price gouging that was going on. I remember this guy almost got into a fist fight with me in the middle of the street because i got into the gas station in front of him. It truly was a real sad day for our nation and to see how some people would try to make a profit from disaster.

[BigWarpGuy]

I was at work. I heard that an airplane had flown into a building . I thought it was a small plane. Since most tv stations were broadcast using antennas on top of the two towers, we did not have most of the tv stations for several weeks afterward. The only station broadcasting was airing the same videos over and over again.; the planes flying into the world trade center. It is not something I will forget. I live in NJ and many NJ residents did not come home that day.

[joester]

I was in the middle of writing a process instruction for a Honeywell job when my co-worker came in and announced that "some [censored] flew a 747 into one of the twin towers".
Being in a lead lined steel building and on the wrong side of a hill 20+ miles from the local radio/TV antennas, we resorted to the internet for information. It was the only time I've ever experienced a T1 line being drug down to a dial up speed due to activity. The server eventually crashed and we had nothing. The front office personnel made periodic announcements over the PA system as they got news from the outside world.
When we heard that the towers had fallen, management decided to let us go home if we wanted. Nobody was working anyway. The discussions centered around one of our larger customers centered in the financial district of NY.
In the following months, we started receiving LCD's and computers from the NYC office for refurbishing. Very humbling to clean the dust and debris from them.

Joe