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 walking round Mothercare with DD1 who was 4 months old, and bumped into a school friend who asked me if I'd seen the news. We both walked out and watched the second crash on the tv screens in Currys along with half the town. I worked in travel insurance claims at the time so phoned work to see if they needed me to come in and help.

DH was a lorry driver and fortunately his route brought him home that night - we both needed to talk the events through, it really felt like the world had changed irreparably.

I was in one of my first ever sixth form politics lessons.

I had just had an interview for my first ever "real" job. At the end i was chatting generally to the interviewer who would eventually become my boss. I mentioned that i had just got back from my honeymoon in nyc and he said "oh i think there is something on the news about a plane crash in nyc." got home with new dh we turned on our tiny tv and watched as the towers fell and feeling really freaked out as literally a few days ago we had been standing on top of them taking pictures. Even now i look at those pics and think they were some of the last ever taken there. It really was so huge and hard to take in the magnitude of it. It changed the whole world

Randomly i remember that day was also a tuesday

Flying from Crete to Manchester
Didn’t hear until we got home, no smartphones then.

In the dentist, 38 weeks pregnant, wondering what the hell I was bringing my unborn child into. I couldn't sleep that night and spent it hugging DS1, ironing, and watching the rescue services on TV.

I was doing the same as today. Sitting at the same desk in the same job. Didn't know anything about it until I got home.

At work listening to Mark and Lard on radio 1, it was the first time I’d heard them talking seriously.

We lived in Manhattan, my husband was late going into work that day as we dropping our firstborn on his first day of preschool. He worked downtown very near WTC, he got a call from his colleague saying they had been evacuated. Luckily he made it home before I did so by the time I had heard the full extent of what happened we were all together.

I was at home watching the tv with baby dd who was 5 months old at the time. I remember it coming on the telly and sitting there watching in shock with my dad.

I was working on a stand at a trade show in Birmingham. 'Planet trade show' was a weird thing back then as you were pretty isolated and away from the 'real' world. Rumours began to go round that something had happened and it was like Chinese whispers with no one really knowing for sure. People started to run back to hotel rooms and lobbies to get access to a TV. Really surreal. I just wanted to get home and hug the ones I love.

At work, was working in TV production at the time. The Managing Director was on the phone and came out of her office saying a plane had hit, and all the TVs in the office were switched (as you can imagine, we had a lot of office TVs). Watched the footage, made comments about it being an awful accident etc and then saw the second plane hit live.

Spent the rest of the day watching the TV, couldn't get any internet running, and was trying to contact anyone I knew who may have been in NYC. Thankfully everyone I knew was safe.

DD13 saw some footage at school today and we started talking about it this evening. I still find it shocking and hard to discuss, and she got quite tearful. We're off to NYC at Easter and have been discussing whether to go to Ground Zero and the museum. I'm not sure I can.

At work. I went into my bosses room and he told me about the first plane. I told him it must have been an accident then the second plane hit.
Went home and just spent the evening stunned with exdh and flatmate.
Then a third building collapsed because it was so damaged and being afraid that more was coming.
It was a horrible horrible day which we'll never forget.

I was at home having a miscarriage. It genuinely felt as though the world was ending. I remember thinking that somehow the baby knew, that's why it didn't want to be born

Walking home from work, my boyfriend came to meet me and we stopped in the tattooist's shop on the way home so I could see the news images.

I had the day off work was at Lakeside with my then boyfriend.

We had no idea until we were leaving. They announced the chapel was open for those who wished to pray, but we still didn't know what had happened until we walked through John Lewis TV department. It was horrific watching.

I was at school, in a lesson. Another pupil saw it on their phone, and ordinarily would have been in big big trouble, but the teacher was so shocked he wanted to know all the details. Sorry to say I had never heard of the twin towers until that day, and had no idea what a massive tragedy that day would turn out to be. So so horrific.

@Miladymilord that’s such a sad memory.

I was at work, my boss heard really early what happened and wheeled an old tv out of the cupboard. We were watching when the second plane hit. I remember thinking WW3 would start. It was such an awful day.

I was on holiday camping in France trying to understand what was happening while watching the towers come down in a French pub.
My American husband who was in America was desperately trying to reach me by phone as he honestly believed the sky was falling down and the world was going to end.

My friend was in NY and had been given tickets to go up one of the towers after it closed early due to bad weather on the night of the 10th. One of his friends had left their bag in the hotel so they decided to wait for him.

I was at staff training in Hemel Hempstead. I remember crying all the way back to my hometown after listening to the news unfold on the radio.

Heard it on the car radio and assumed it was some kind of play. Picked my children up from school and couldn't wait to get home.

My brother who lives in NYC was on holiday in Ireland having just visited us in London.

We had calls from his partner's relatives who couldn't get hold of them in NY and didn't know they were away.

Very scary.

Temping as a legal secretary at a big financial news agency. They had screens on all the time for the markets so we watched it all unfold on the telly. They sent us all home early and I think I found the way to a pub where I hung out during bar school with some friends and we all just sat around getting drunk and miserable.

I was at work in The Entertainer (toy shop) and my boss came down from the office to say I had to discreetly dismantle the window display which had giant jigsaws of the New York skyline in them.

When I got home we sat and watched the news. I was 18/19 and it was the first major news story I really was aware of and followed.

I would have been 5, so would have been in school

We had just moved to Frankfurt. I watched events unfold on BBC world. I remember genuine panic amongst people dh worked with that the skyscrapers there might be targeted next.

MIL caught a flight the next day and was the only passenger on board.