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.

At school, we saw it on TV at school i was in Primary, probably shouldnt have being so young and no parental permission.

In Menorca with small DS - went back to room to feed him, turned on TV and thought to begin with I was watching a movie

I was in NYC on a work trip watching it happen out of a window.

I was in year 8, came home from school and just sat silently watching the news with my mum.

Flew back from holiday early hours of 11/9 - both dh and i were still on A/L and literally sat and watched it all unfold on TV for most of day. remember feeling numb and scared. DH worked in a big London bank at the time with colleagues based in NY (a few died that day). The day the world changed.

We were on holiday in Florida and we were stuck there for another days as there were no flights. It was very weird-strange atmosphere.

*5 days

Was at work (cashier) and someone came to my till and casually mentioned a plane crashing into a building in NY.

Had no internet at the time, but my managers DH did atvhis place of Work, and faxed over a thumbnail picture - of the first tower and all the smoke.

Then heard about second tower and we all realised this was no accident.

Came home and was glued to the TV with DP, staring in disbelief and wondering what the hell happens now.

Went to NY 18minths later and visited Ground Zero, which was just fenced off - the whole area was just silent.

Visited the 911 museum two years back, and it was the one of the most moving experiences of my life.

Working split shifts around a 3 year old and a 5 year old. Saw it on the tele and assumed it was a film. Only heard the full scale of it at work that night on the radio.

The day I had my pregnancy confirmed by the doctor.

Didn’t really understand what I was looking at.

Dh works at Heathrow and they were in lockdown.

Very very scary.

I was visiting my grandma before starting university. My Dad and I were painting the bathroom with the radio on and my boyfriend (now DH) was making tea when the news broke. We stopped and watched it on the television. I went into town later and it was deserted. I stood outside an electrical shop and watched it on their televisions for a while too.

I was at school our head of year told us and there was no cartoons on any of the channels when we got homs

Goodness, Curtain, that must have been difficult.

I was at work and I heard a colleague on the phone to our New York office which she had only just transferred from -it was a few blocks from the World Trade Centre. I could just tell from the sound of her voice that something had happened so I got the internet up, and found it was very slow on the news sites which again made me think something major had happened. We were on the same floor as the IT guys and they got a feed from Sky or something, and we watched events unfold; I remember the shock when the second plane hit the tower, and then news of the Pentagon.

I did not see much of the immediate TV news coverage afterwards as I had a really busy week with a lot of late nights, but what I did see has stayed with me forever.

Teaching. First or second week in a new job. I only started hearing rumours of what had happened towards the end of the school day.

Sitting at home with my baby and toddler- watching the News on TV as it unfolded.

Had set my (brand new, bought the evening before) recorder to record just anything to make sure it was working OK. Went out, came back, switched "play" and saw what I thought was a film with the banner "America under attack" underneath.

My abiding memory is the following Friday when there was iirc, a 2 minute silence almost worldwide. I was in Italy, in an apartment with builders over my head and they stopped. In a land of constant and high volume noise, it was incredible.

At work. The phones went eerily quiet. Everybody was watching, including us. I remember it felt nightmarishly surreal

I was living in California, heavily pregnant with DC1, watching it all unfold on the TV, and frantically trying to ring my brother who worked in downtown Manhattan. It was an awful time. We knew several people who died in the Twin Towers.

I had a secret abortion the day before, and I really didn't want to go through with it. I was sitting on the couch with my sisters and cousin when the programme we were watching was interrupted to tell us about the twin towers. I remember just thinking what a horrible place the world is and how I wished I was still pregnant. We had no idea how serious it was, we assumed everybody had all got out of the building and then saw the poor souls falling ( I refuse to say jumped as that indicates a choice). I will always remember that. It was scary as hell and my first "grown up" thing where I realised how fragile life is and that terrible things happen to good people.

Driving my three year old and one year old back from Tumbletots. It came on the radio.

I remember watching it on TV later and I was weirdly unreactive. I think I went into some kind of shock.

17 years? I can't believe how fast that time has gone.

I was working in a local shock. We put the radio on in the back and took turns to go and listen.

Working for a bespoke tour company in London. Bitch of a boss immediately made me make pre-authorisations on our clients credit card (clients were mainly American) as she knew they wouldn't travel. It wasn't our policy, and it was fucking cruel. I refused to. I had the next day off, and my friend told me my name was mud.

I was skiving work babbling away via text with a friend who got cross with me as ' something serious was going on'

Put on the tv just before the second plane hit

And then of course there was the Pentagon. My cousin worked there but wasn’t harmed. And Pennsylvania. What a terrible day.