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Original poster

What were you doing 17 years ago today?

662 replies

PepperSteaks · 11/09/2018 09:03

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.

OP posts:
Hoozz · 11/09/2018 14:44

I was at work. We all packed up and left to pick up our children. I collected them from school as did all my neighbours who also had young children. We gathered together and waited for WWIII to start.

LemonysSnicket · 11/09/2018 14:44

I was in year 2, we got sent home early and went to my aunts house to watch it on the news

liquidrevolution · 11/09/2018 14:48

Happy birthday to my birthday twin @Stillmuddlingthrough!

I went to a spa the following year to get away from the coverage. I still don't really celebrate my birthday.

liquidrevolution · 11/09/2018 14:50

And happy birthday to @nornironrock and everyone else who is my birthday twin.

MrsTommyBanks · 11/09/2018 15:05

I was working from home. My then DP phoned and asked if I had the TV on and to turn it on. I asked him if it was a new film. Then realised it was real.
I remember thinking how to explain this terrible thing to my DC then 15, 11, 10.
My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones.

PawneeParksDept · 11/09/2018 15:28

I remember that all my friends thought it was the beginning of World War Three and that was it we would be under attack now, and probably die.

We have been at war ever since I suppose.

Empathy56 · 11/09/2018 15:36

I was in a shop ordering printed bits for my wedding.Another customer was taking a call from someone telling him about the twin towers,he was relaying the news to the shop assistant.

Rebecca36 · 11/09/2018 15:41

I was severely depressed. Saw the twin towers terrorist attack on TV and couldn't process it, felt numb. I walked down the road to a charity shop, someone was arguing with the manageress and I stared at them, then said, "Do you know a plane has just flown into the twin towers in New York collapsing the buildings and killing loads of people?". They stopped their argument and stared back. I probably looked a bit mad but they seemed (to me at that time), so petty when there were bigger things going on. Anyway it stopped their argument.

Ginger1982 · 11/09/2018 15:45

I was at home recovering from an operation. My friend was on holiday in NYC and phoned to let me know she was ok. Until she did I had no clue anything had even happened!

gttia · 11/09/2018 15:46

I was a flight attendant on air port standby.

VeryBerrySeptember · 11/09/2018 15:46

Pawnee I was out of the UK and was wondering if London and Paris had been hit as I was relying on US TV channels for news.

RibbonAurora · 11/09/2018 15:55

It was the middle of the afternoon in the UK, I walked into my boss's office and found him watching on his pc monitor with our CEO standing by his side just as the second plane flew in to the towers. I honestly didn't comprehend what I was seeing, I thought it was a trailer for some action movie, and started talking to them and laying down some papers on the desk. Then I released how silent and still they both were, my boss actually had tears trickling down his face, they were just mesmerised by the footage. That's when the newscaster's voiceover started to register with and I knew it was real. I went cold all over and then my tears came too. Truly one of the most chilling and emotional moments of my life.

LesLavandes · 11/09/2018 15:56

I was driving to school to collect my daughter, listening to Steve Wright Show when the news came

MulticolourMophead · 11/09/2018 15:58

I was watching the news, and feeding DD, with my jaw hitting the floor in shock.

Perfect11 · 11/09/2018 15:59

I was working at a dental surgery, nursing as everything unfolded over the radio.

wonkylegs · 11/09/2018 16:01

I was watching TV waiting for a double glazing salesman with DH . We all including the salesman sat and watched whilst it unfolded and agreed the windows could wait for another day.

gunnergirl · 11/09/2018 16:01

on the tube just missed it by 30 min xx

Thirtyrock39 · 11/09/2018 16:05

Had just started first teaching job with lots of free periods and the cleaner told me
At the gym that night it was the only time they had news on and not mtv on the big screens
I had just got back from a summer spent travelling the states and had flown on American Airlines
It was one of those events that did t really sink in on the day itself and there was a lot of confusion
I find it fascinating watching the documentaries that show the live tv news from the day
So sad

GallicosCats · 11/09/2018 16:06

My DH rang me at work. I didn't understand what he was talking about at first. I thought he was talking about a film or a stunt or something. But I thought I'd better get the internet to creak into life (no broadband back then) and when colleagues in the building started slowly poking their heads round and crowding round the screen I knew it was for real. Sad Somehow the jerkiness of the connection and the stop-start nature of the footage made it all the more appalling, as if the connection was mirroring our ability to take it in.

I was expecting my DD at the time and heard a lot of 'what kind of world...' comments.

salopek · 11/09/2018 16:07

I was at school, my mum was abroad on business (in Europe not the States) and I remember crying down the phone saying I didn't want her getting on the plane to come back.

shoofly · 11/09/2018 16:10

At work, my sister's transatlantic flight landed in JFK a few hours before the first plane hit. She rang me at work to say "I'm ok", I answered "why wouldn't you be?" & she told me what was going on.

GetSomeGumption · 11/09/2018 16:23

I'd been in a GCSE art class. All sat around on the grass drawing the teacher's car. My dad picked me up and had it on the car radio and was gutted "the second tower has just fallen".

I didn't know what they were and got home to see the horror on the TV. Eventually I went up to my room as I couldn't face watching any more. For the first (and only!) Time in my life I did my art homework on the day it jad been given. It was to draw our bedroom and I'm sure I still have the picture today. TV in the corner, but for once switched off.

JoeElliotsMullet · 11/09/2018 16:41

I was at work. We didn't have a radio, or internet. My boss phoned in and said he'd heard something on the radio about a plane hitting a skyscraper in NYC - like a lot of previous posters I envisioned a light aircraft, thought oh no that's awful.

Got home meaning to ask my mum what on earth was going on, and she opened the door and said "I think you need to see this", then we sat and watched the rolling news on TV in silence.

There is nothing about it on the BBC news site today. At least, not that I can see.

ForTheLoveOfSleep · 11/09/2018 16:43

I was at school. Just as I arrived home my Dad shouted "quick come look at this".

It was the second plane hitting the towers live on Sky news.

Bluelonerose · 11/09/2018 16:47

I was in 6th form the timing meant we had to be in business development when it happened.
I got home to find my dm and 2 engineers from virgin media sat in the Lounge watching the planes crash.
I remember asking why they were all watching this film (coz that's honestly what I thought it was) then they told me what had happened.

I remember that being the first time ide seen terrorism in real life and honestly it scared me.

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