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 just in my second year at 6th form college.

It was after my lunch break and we were sat waiting for the Psychology Tutor to come in. She came in gasping - I don’t know whether she had been home watching TV or whether they had one in the staff room but she had seen the news. She told us what had happened. I didn’t know what she meant at first but she said “as soon as you get home put the news on”.

I went home with my then boyfriend (now DH) and watched it all on the news. Albsolutely devastating.

I was only six. I went to a friend’s house, apparently her mum felt guilty that she couldn’t spend more time with us because she was so glued to the TV. I remember being told something about it at school, but I don’t know when that would have been.
The department store near us used to sell TVs on the top floor, my dad was in there, also watching.
My mum would have been at home with my brother, who was 2 at the time.

It was before I went NC with my mum, so had gone by bus for my weekly "let's slag Confused off thinly veiled as having a catch up". She doesn't have the tv on when entertaining, and I was so wound up I walked the 35 minutes home.
I had just moved in to a flat with DH, we'd been together just over a year, and he was meant to be painting the flat with his mate whilst I was out.
Got in and they were both sitting "being lazy" as I called them on the sofa, watching what I assumed was a film.
I started to really moan at them when the second plane went into the building and I realised it wasn't a film. I sat on the floor after that, all 3 of speechless, and I recall the good booze was brought out at some point.
We genuinely thought we were watching the end of the world.

I got home from College to see it on the news. Not something I'll ever forget.

I remember walking into the work kitchen and seeing the news but I assumed it was a movie at first. We were being trained in a new job by American trainers. Half had family in New York. Was a very emotional day.

I was standing in my front room and had the news on an American news Chanel as it was lunchtime. I saw it on the TV as the planes hit and the world has never been the same for me. My son had gotten down to one of the last two interviewed for a position with Eurobrokers and would have been working in the twin towers. The other boy perished. I know brokers who were on the line to New York as it happened. It was a tremendous loss of life and people are still dying today from the aftereffects of 9/11.

No words are sufficient to convey the grief and horror of that day.

I was heavily pregnant and settling for an afternoon nap on the sofa. I walked along the road (avout 50 yards) to where DH then worked and told him to come home with me, I was very upset and worried about this world I was bringing this new baby into. He brought me home. Dad arrived on his way home from his weekly Tesco shop and I sat and watched for hours, whilst they consoled and brought me endless cups of tea. Then older ds arrived home from school and I cried again. Told the school bus I did not know if I would be sending him in tomorrow.
If you ask me, am I less worried now about our dcs future, I really don't know.

A year after my DD was stillborn- I was feeding my rainbow baby. I too thought it was a movie, couldn’t believe my eyes.

I was at work, a colleague came in to tell us it had happened. I had not long starred dating my now DH and I remember us just standing together in shock watching the news on the internet.

I was 16 and at school. I was sent into the gym for something and one of the teaching assistants was on the bike with the TV and said planes had hit the world trade center in America. It didn't mean anything to me.
When I got home my mum was glued to the TV and was telling us about it, I will never forget how frightened she seemed. She also said that the world was going to change forever because of this. I fell asleep and I remember dreaming about terrible things and then waking up and it all being even more horrendous.

I was 19 and I was in my first 'real' job as an office junior. I admit with some shame I had no idea what the twin towers were. A colleague came in our office and told us there had been a bomb. We all looked at her and she said it's really serious you know. On the walk home one of my colleagues was on the phone to her boyfriend who was watching the tv and she said there is a plane crashing into the pentagon! It sounded awful. I went to the gym and it was just being replayed on the tv- that moment when the plane hit the tower. I remember the pictures in the papers the next day and I was just horrified that people were having to jump. That's never really left me. And the people on the planes- what they must have gone through. I visited New York with my DP in April 2011 and we went to the ground zero site. It was so sad. We were talking to a cafe owner who was telling us about people taking cover in there on the day. He said he was blown by the force out of his shoes. It just sounded like the worst thing to ever go through.

@user1457017537 my word that has just sent a shiver down my spine.

I was at college and a friend told me. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, so as soon as I got in I put the news on and just sat staring at it in shock for hours.

I was at work in Canary Wharf. I worked for a bank and we had a couple of TV news monitors around the floor. Still remember sitting at my desk in disbelief

Oh I really had to think about that. We working in the HO of a bank, I was single but trying to chat up a colleague who I fancied. Then an ex sent a bouquet of flowers to work which someone brought in, it was literally just as I was getting somewhere then the bloke fled at the sight of it. I was really cross! Thwarted.

7/11 we couldn't believe it either, our manager let us leave work to run down the street and buy a radio. At the time it felt like you didn't know what on earth would happen next.

Imma assume I was in nursery/school as I was 5😂

In Turkey working as a TEFL teacher. It was weird,some v upset US teachers, general upset staff and students and happy Islamic anti western students. People celebrating in the street. V mixed. I just remember watching it on TV horror struck.

I was in the worst relationship of my
Life with an abusive arse. I can still remember him calling me to tell me about the twin towers though. I didn’t know what they were at the time (I was only 19) but when I switched on the tele I knew it wasn’t
Good.

I was on holiday in Cyprus. My dh had asked me to marry him 2 days before and we were due to fly home next day. I remember being asleep in the afternoon and my dh waking me up to say the twin towers had been hit by a plane. We went out that evening for a meal and it was surreal every restaurant cafe and bar in paphos was showing footage of the planes hitting the world trade centre. There was a point when we didn't think that we'd get home because all the airports and flights were effected, but we flew home next day and everyone cheered with relief when we landed.

Working in a 14 storey building
The news spread to our floor as to what had happened we all started panicking as we were high up
Remember in the evening watching it on the news so awful!!

I was watching Crossroads and had stepped into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. When I got back to the living room the TV was showing the planes flying into the twin towers.

DD was a baby at the time.

16 living abroad. On lunch break from international school.
My mother was in front of the tv, there looked to have been an incident at the WTC, I joined her, the thought never crossing my mind that it would've been anything other than an accident involving a small aircraft flying too low. To watch the other plane just fly straight into the other tower was surreal. Towers falling down, surreal. The news coming through about other targets, surreal- what next? Felt like the rug had been pulled from under us.
Things definitely changed, life before and life after. Overnight I witnessed bigotry and anger and also received threats as I spoke English in public. Both ways. Due to the nature of the jobs of my school friends' parents, armed guards and railings were positioned outside the school. It wasn't scary but surreal, there was a level of threat that just didn't exist before that day. The world has been fucked ever since. The evil that humans inflicted on others that day, the loss of life in the years following. Just fucked

Giraffe yes we had happy people where I lived too. Celebrations with fireworks :(

I was looking for student accommodation. A mad lady was driving around saying the world was ending. I ended up living with her. She was lovely but batshit.

At school in maths class