What were you doing 17 years ago today?

[PepperSteaks]

I think September 11th is definitely one of those moments when you remember exactly where you were. As MN is such a cross section of society I thought it would be interesting to know where people were when it happened.

I was at school.

At school doing A level computer class went home at lunch as had two free periods then watched the news as it all unfolded.

On my honeymoon in Turkey.

At work, they out on the big Telly's mounted round the room which had never been on before.

At college, Someone came into English after dinner to tell us.

It’s the panic on the bus home that sticks with me because nobody knew what was happening. When I got home I sat on the floor next to my mum and we watched for hours

Taking my ds to baby group and my dp calling me

I was backpacking on the west coast of Australia so only found out 2 days later.

It was bizarre watching it on a tv in a tiny hardware store in a town in the middle of nowhere.

I was off sick from school and mum and I were in the living room watching tv when the news began. I remember my mum was absolutely shell shocked and crying. I remember being frozen to the spot on the floor because I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. The day the world changed, eh? It's amazing what sticks with you in full detail.

Waiting to start uni. I spoke to my boss about an hour after the 1st plane hit, told him we were watching it live and couldn't get hold of our new York relatives (1 worked in Manhattan) and he didn't believe me and was making jokes. He phoned back later to apologise. Still cannot believe it happened. Sending love today to all those who were/are still affected.

In the lab, working on my PhD. I was unusual in looking at the BBC website so as soon as people thought they must have misheard the dodgy radio, I checked. A couple hours later there were TV screens rigged up in the canteen and loads of worried colleagues - about 100 staff were American and hundreds of others had worked there or had family there. Spent the day checking in and out in between attending to experiments.
A friend's fiance died in the Twin Towers.

I was living in New York at the time, preparing to take a flight to Florida in the afternoon from JFK. Obviously that flight never happened.

I had turned on the tv to check the weather forecast for the day to decide what to wear and saw the second plane crash live. Absolutely never to be forgotten.

There was a tense few hours trying to get an international line to call my family back in the UK so they knew we were okay, especially as they knew we were flying that day.

I had just broken up with my first ever boyfriend and my parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. I was home from university in my first year.

Coming out of school as a teenager, to find my dad very shook up telling me that WWIII was likely to start

Having my 20 week scan, came out of the hospital and saw crowds gathered round a tv shop in town as the towers were coming down.

At secondary school - I remember walking into the classroom & there was a TV at the front which was very strange. It was playing the footage.

I remember not understanding what a 'terrorist' was & asking my mum when I got back home that afternoon.

I was a nurse and had been on a night shift the night before as i was then single and had no children i could sleep all day when i was doing nights , i had no idea untill about 6pm when i was listening to radio and they started talking about the "Atrocities" in America , i was working again that night and we had the news channel on all night

I booked a last minute holiday to go to Menorca the following week. I phoned my sister to tell her and she said put the tele on. We then didn’t know if we’d be able to go because of DH being in the RAF.

When I picked up the kids from school everyone’s was really quiet and quite shocked.

At work, and the senior manager kept updating everything as it happened. No-one could get onto the news websites to find out but she had a connection and just kept refreshing. It was all encompassing and a horror show that you could only watch unfolding. Heartbreaking. 5 years later I was in New York and went to ground zero and it was one of the most moving and emotional places I have ever been, so silent.

I was 18 at the time, at work, and I remember every member of staff (approx. 100.) crowding around the TV in the canteen horrified. It was eerily quiet, no one knew what to say, we all just stood there shell shocked watching it all unfold.

Working. Heard it on the radio. Spent the rest of the day hearing about the other horrific events happening. It was a surreal experience. Couldn’t get my head around all those people who were killed and how it wouldn’t start another World War.

Flew from Lyon to Stansted and was just getting on the coach into London, I heard lots of ominous sounding whispers about 'Twin Towers'.

Working. I had a summer job in a frozen fruit and veg factory and was on the 7-3 shift. Didn't know anything about it utility I got home. My little brother met me at the door absolutely distraught. We stared at the TV for a while and then I phoned my mum dad at their workplaces and told them about it... these days everyone would know in moments wouldn't they?

The very worst thing for me was the people jumping to their death.

I had just finished for the day at college, for a lift home with a friend and when I got home my dad was flicking through the channels, we thought it was a film at first but quickly realised it wasn’t and we watched the whole thing in horror.

Having my baby weighed at the clinic, then I popped into a charity shop where they were all talking about it

Nerr that was a bit of a sharp jolt to the fact that things can always be worse!

I was in a department store walking past a bank of televisions which I thought were showing a futuristic horror movie and everyone was standing around watching it.