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.

In a bookshop in Bristol. It was my day off.
Came out and my bike had been stolen.
Walked to the police station to report it. They had the tv on in the waiting area. The first plane had just hit. Desk sergeant explained what had happened.
I didn't really absorb the scale of it until I got home shortly after and watched what was unfolding.
It was the most surreal and grim day.

Working in a basement in the City at British Arab Commercial Bank, installing systems. A guy came down to tell us that a plane had crashed in to the WTC. Obviously we were shocked but at that point we weren’t overly concerned though we did have friends and colleagues working at BOA there. My colleague (and best friend) got on the phone to try to contact their managers to check they were ok. Lines were understandably blocked so we couldn’t get through. Then the BACB guy comes down again and tells us about the second plane. Now we know it’s not an accident and we are getting pretty worried and upset, I’ve known these colleagues for years, they are mostly young Philippino’s that I spent years working with in the Philippines and who befriended me and took me to their homes to make me feel welcome. It was a long wait to find they were, thank god, absolutely fine. They had gone in to work that morning but got out quickly, some had literally just arrived on site to find people leaving and so hadn’t even entered the building. I also had an old friend working at Cantor’s. He was based in London but travelled to NY often Not sure if you know but Cantor’s were very high up in the North tower. Sixty seven Britons died and sixty three of them were from Cantor Fitzgerald. Actually, nearly a quarter of all fatalities were Cantor employees. Funny but years ago, working in the City, Cantor’s were really not popular brokers! That changed a bit for a while. Again, thankfully he wasn’t there on the day, but I didn’t know that and it took a long while to hear from him. We also had a colleague who was on holiday in NY at the time. We didn’t realise. She chose that day to visit the WTC. She was fine too but blimey she had a story to tell when she got back. I will never forget the day and hearing the news, in hindsight it seems dreamlike, really unreal, every thing seemed to unfold slowly.

I was at home, I watched a programme I’d recorded the night before and when I turned that off and the TV was on it was all over the news. The first I saw was the 2 towers still up but burning and just praying they wouldn’t collapse. Seeing the people jumping from the windows was awful and I was hysterical when the towers collapsed.

All those poor people :(

I was at school, only 8 so had no idea what was happening. First I knew was the after school club ladies talking about it. Then when we got home that evening my mom turned the tv on and cried for hours in front of the news.
It's truly truly awful, I'll never forget seeing the people jumping from the building and the sadness that came over me they day, I still always feel so sad on sept 11.

judas I remember seeing the head guy at Cantors being interviewed a few days after the tragedy and he was just crying his eyes out, it was awful to see :(

I was at school. I remember coming home and it was on tv, my mum was ironing, watching it and silently crying. I remember not fully understanding what I was seeing but knowing it was bad (I was 7).

At home in my pyjamas, I'd had a job interview in London the day before. (My first "proper" job) The breaking news came on the TV and I didn't take my eyes off of it for the rest of the day.

I called my parents crying. When everyone came home we just sat and watched in disbelief until very late.

We had been visiting DH's family in the central belt of Scotland. It was my second year of uni. We were in a pub and watched the 2nd plane hit, I actually thought it was a playback of the 1st plane. I couldn't really believe what I was seeing and certainly didn't grasp the magnitude of it all.

I was driving and hear it on the radio. Got home, just flicked on the tv and saw the second plane hit. Think I was rooted to the spot for a good while just couldn't believe what I was seeing

Just got home from school, I was with my mum and DB. Dad called, said turn the TV on - he works for a large international company. This was when the first plane had just hit. Watched the second plane virtually live
It was awful to watch. Those poor people. The ones that jumped I think got me the most. And then both towers collapsed Horrendous.

I was pregnant with DS1 and was very concerned about exactly what type of world he'd be coming into 6 months later.

I was in a GCSE History class when it happened. Came out and my Mum had texted me. Went home to watch it all unfold on rolling news. I was so scared. It was the day after my 16th birthday.

Washing my car with my Dad.

I was at home, alone, recovering from a stomach bug so already feeling low. Watched the footage on TV and really though WW111 was about to start.

Working at Tesco, I was 16. Heard about it on the TV on my break.

I was at high school. My mom had let me get off in town and get home myself. When I was waiting to go home people were talking about it. Got home and saw it all on the news. Went out with my friends and we all thought we were going to war.

I had just got home with my little boy.
He was three and had just had his autism diagnosis.
We were having a cosy day, just the two of us.
I was trying to engage him in a book and something about the day just didn't feel right.
I put the tele on and it all seemed surreal.
I remember looking out of the window to check there were still people out there!

At home in Boston with baby DS. My DH had flown out of Boston airport that morning, so i was crazy with worry until he managed to call me as it took a while to establish which/how many planes had been hijacked. As soon as they knew there was a terrorist attack, they made any planes in the air land at the closest airport, so DH was somewhere weird and all his colleagues who were also on planes that morning ended up scattered in various airports on the east coast. They mostly eventually hired cars and drove home as all plane travel was stopped for days. (As the hire cars ran out, people grouped together to share cars and get home, some amazing friendships were made)

I remember our network of friends helping establish who was safe, we had many friends in NY. The phone lines didnt work very well and so if you heard someone was safe, you added it to your list that you would pass on if you could speak to someone else.

It was scary, earie, and filled with brief moments of people helping out beyond what would normally be expected. We were going to move house a couple of days later, but couldnt because DH and all his colleagues (house moving muscle) were stuck all over the place. The van company adjusted our reservation without charge and said they would bring in a van from another State if they needed to, so that we could move. I think everyone just wanted to do something, anything to help.

I was 21 and working a solo shift at my local pub. Only a tv in the bar there. I was cleaning the lounge and one of our regulars shouted me through. We spent my whole 5 hour shift watching it unfold.

Still struggle to believe what we saw that day.

Thinking back more, I think it actually hit me more on the first anniversary, at that point DS1 was exactly 6 months old to the day, and I remember suddenly feeling a huge wave of horror/sadness as I realised that while I had this new precious life to care for, there were so many families who were having to deal with lives being ripped away from them.

I remember the morning after. Pushing my child in a buggy and passing a total stranger on a lonely street. We were both walking slowly and didn't break our strides but looked one at the other and he said "it's such a beautiful day," but with eyebrows raised as if to say what the hell. I just shook my head and said "I know".

I was sat feeding my 11 day old eldest son wondering what kind of world I’d brought him into - was very emotional, my mum had also left to fly to Australia the day before so was in the air somewhere so was worrying about her. She landed in Singapore and it was on all the screens, she said she didn’t pay much attention but thought it was an odd film to play in an airport - my dad updated her when she arrived in Perth. Horrific, 7/7 happened just before my second son was born. Can’t belive it was 17 years ago.

Sorry wrong thread!