So, in honor of the date, which is today, why don't we start things off by describing where you were when you first heard about the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I don't want this to turn into some political argument or anything. Some people recomend having jubuliouse celebrations while others want nothing more than a few seconds of silence nation-wide. I think it would be best to just pass the ball around and describe, as an international community, what if felt like and what we were doing when the news came to us. No story is too boring or too long to hear.

I'll start:

When I first heard of a plane hitting the world trade center I was in woodshop, one of my least-favorite classes but I had to take something for credit that period and taking Algebra and Spanish II over again didn't really appeal to me. Anyway, so in the door came these people who I hated due to their constant ignorance and bliss which they celebrated, not caring about what others though of them, they were always rambunxiouse and ill-mannered, but that period they came in with their faces cold, still, one in tears, wide-eyed they could only stare off into space, they didn't make eye contact and sat down slowly, appearing to take in the moment, I, as I usually did, ignored them and continued to draw out plans for a chess board... Then they started talking about it, and as always, I coulnd't help but overhear their conversation... They spoke of the obviouse facts which we all know today but came to my ears first via their mouths. I then recalled a certain writing from nostradameuse about an Iron bird, which I'd always thought to represent a Nuclear missile, but his predictions haven't been wrong yet, though this last one was some 19 years off... and then again that's all with interpretation, after all, he did write his predictions in code. Well anyway, somehow all these thoughts went through my head and I knew then and there that the tower was bound to collapse, I sort of expected it to take out half of NewYork, Times Square included, but then again, interpretation... Aaanyway, the period right after that was lunch, so I went home and turned on the television, everyone around was worrying about what would happen, if the skies were all goign to start raining jet air liners, the Base went to a hightened state of alert and for 2 weeks nobody could even park their cars near buildings... >_> Since then, nothing similar has happened, though life has certainly changed, because of the war in alqueda we get prisoners, with prisoners come troops, lots more people around now than there were then... It changed life in ways which could not have even been expected to have occured on september the 10th, or even at 8:00 AM September the 11th... It truley will be a day that will live in infamy for us all...

*tosses ball into crowd hoping some one will catch it*

<font color=skyblue> On my way to work, I nearly got there when I was listening to 107.5...and Jack Murphy..the radio personality made a comment about some fool flying into the WTC. He thought a first that somebody was playing a joke on him, then they were wondering if the pilot was drunk or something. I got outta my car and was walking to the door when a lady asked me about it, and I tod her that I only knew that a plane crashed. When I got to the office, everybody was huddled around a tv. I decided it was a good reason to not start working yet, so I joined them. That is when I saw the second plane collide and I knew that the first plane was not just an idle accident. That whole work day was spent passing by TVs, listening to the latest news.
I logged on here, and found GenCon loaded with numerous threads...and began reading each one...hoping to learn something new from those that were posting the latest news that they were hearing on thier radios and tvs across the world.</font>

It was pretty weird for me. I normally wake up pretty late in the day, usally around 11 am or so.. But for some reason I woke up early that day, I woke up about 8:30 Am or so, I walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day, when my family shouted out Oh my God or something like that, ok, my family is generally loud, so I was acustom to stuff like this being shouted, but something almost voiced me into the living room where everyone was, and found out what had happened.

Strange eh?

I was sleeping ;) (I'm homeschooled so I can do that). I was woken up by just a few words from my mom who had burst into my room, "The Pentagon is gone." I thought something to the effect of "Holy Sh**!" Of course that wasn't the case, but that was what my older brother had told my mom before either of them had actually seem it on the news, my brother had just heard it from his friend. I got up and saw the smoke billowing out from the WTC on TV and I wondered "Why can't I see the other tower?" I had thought it was just that the smoke was so thick, but I was apparently wrong... Only minutes after I saw the second tower come down, live on television. It was scary as hell.

On a side note, not REALLY on topic with this particular thread but I talked to a friend of mine via AIM later that day who lives in NYC... turns out he was 1 block away from the WTC when it happened a the high school near there, Styvesette or something like that, I never remember the name... He wasn't the same and I haven't talked to him since, he never answers IM's or anything...

-Jafin

<font color=pink>Good thread Ian!

I was on my way to school at about 6:30AM, listening to the AM news radio. I heard all the things happening, like the plane crashing, and it didn't quite register in my head what was going on. At around 9:30, when I was in AP History, watching it on CNN, i saw the 2nd plane crash. I think it was my 1st day of school too, what a way to start the year. And it doesn't even feel like a year since then, if u know what i mean...</font>

It was around 9 pm and I was at my PC checking email when I received an email from a friend who was then staying in Pennsylvania (or was it New Jersey?).
Anyway she wrote that a plane had just crashed into the WTC in NY. At first I thought it was a joke, or perhaps an accident, or even domestic terrorism. I visualised a small light aircraft. Never could I imagine that it was a fully-laden airliner.

I walked into my bedroom, told my wife about our friend's email, and tuned to the local news channel here.

I was flabbergasted to see footage of the aricraft hitting the building. It was replayed over and over and when the second one hit I knew it was no accident.

Then reports started coming in about the Pentagon being hit, and another one crashing in the countryside of Pennsylvania. Rumours that a bomb had exploded at Capitol Hill.

My wife & I stayed up until 2 am.

The scary part was a few months later, the police arrested a few guys in Singapore who allegedly belonged to a terrorist cell. They had videotaped possible targets like an MRT station (subway to the rest of the world), and I believe the shipyards where USN vessels were berthed whenever they stopped over here.

I was in a train.

A guy near by was listening to the radio via a headset. He starting saying "Oh my god, unbelievable,..." (Later I learned that's when he hear the first plane hit the first tower). But at the time, Danes being very reserved people, nobody in the compartment actually asked him what whas happening.

Later though he started murmuring again (second tower, pentagon), I asked him what was going on and he told us...

I was in England (as per usual) and I didn't hear about it... unitl I got home that evening... to be honest I wasn't sure what accually happened... not 'til a couple of days later... all of the news channels were saying something about a plane crashing into a building, the world trade centre, but, I didn't really find out anything until 2 days later... erm, and to be honest I was slightly shocked... they weren't sure at that point if it was "accidental" I beleive... but, erm, thats how I got the news I think... :(

Well I was in bed, it was around 12 pm here in iceland but I was working late shifts and had to go to work at 2 pm, my sister came into my room and told me some one had flewn a plane into the twin towers and it was on the tv, I just couldn't believe it, all I kept thinking about were the poor people up there, so I got down and sure there it was on the tv. I went to work and had a small headset radio and listened to the news all day. I just couldn't believe this.

I was right here browsing the Ironworks forum when Mark/Skywalker posted a topic about a plane crashing into the WTC (this was almost immediately after it happened). Right then my boyfriend came home and we quickly had to go do the weekly groceries. I had no idea at that point how bad it was... I guess I was a bit dumbstruck by the topic. Just before I left I saw Skywalker post something like "Oh my God... another plane just crashed into it".
I was a bit confused as we walked through the supermarket, not sure what the situation was like, when my sister called me on my mobile phone with the latest news. (She was at home watching the telly). I was shocked as I started to get an inkling of the enormity of the disaster, and told some people in the supermarket the news. None of us, however, really realised the gravity of the situation. On the way back home we listened to the radio news. It wasn't until we came home and turned on the TV that it hit us. Spent most of the evening watching the news and browsing IW, especially because I was worried sick about people in the neighbourhood like Yorick. I remember the relief when Leonis posted he was alright.

I was on a bus in Italy. Someone phoned the driver to tell him what had happened, and he told us. My Italian isn't that great, so someone translated for us. My first thought was 'Oh f*ck, this will be used as a good excuse for a war' and how right I was.

I had been out of work since mid-July and was in the middle of watching an Evil Dead double feature (1&2) on my TV. I had to go to the bathroom (too much coffee)so I stopped the tape. When I got back the news was on showing the first tower on fire. As I watched and listened, I saw the second plane hit. As Melusine wrote, sometime along I posted the Plane hitting the World Trade Center Tower thread. I then spent equally time between computer and TV.

And then I thought that the towers looked like they would fall over sideways and instead they fell straight down.....

Mark

[ADDED] Here is a link to the first WTC thread if you are interested: http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...0;t=003038;p=1

[ 09-11-2002, 05:08 AM: Message edited by: skywalker ]

I was sitting in a plane at Aberdeen Airport, waiting to fly to Gatwick, then on to Cork. It looked like the two seats next to me were going to remain empty, but at the last minute an elderly couple joined the flight. They sat down, we said our hello's etc, then they told me that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Centre - they had just seen a news flash before getting on the plane.

The night before, our tour party of Australian golfers had farewelled our "American Bob" (we also had an Aussie Bob - had to have some way of yelling "Hey Bob" and getting the right one to answer). He had joined our party for the previous 2 weeks, and we had a great time getting to know him. We knew he was due to land at JFK some time that morning, and that he worked in the WTC. It turned out that his plane got turned around about an hour out of JFK, and seeing as he couldn't go to work or go home, he rejoined our tour for the Irish leg. It cut very close to home for him - he knew that he would have friends and co-workers amongst the casualties.

Our tour leader was an Aussie named Roy, who has married an American lass and lives in "Joisey" - Princeton actually, and I had visited with him and his wife back in May of last year. He spent a frantic 24 hours - 5 of them watching the CNN coverage at Gatwick airport - his wife regularly goes to Manhattan for business meetings, and one of the firms that she does consulting work for is based in the WTC. He was most relieved to get a call to say that the was all right.

A sobering day indeed.

I was sitting at my desk when skywalkers post popped up.

What an idiot - flying a plane into a skyscraper.

Couldn't he see it? Mental image forms in my head. Light plane.

There were people in the plane? Light plane - that's about 5 or 6 deaths, that's not good.

A ■■■■■■■ jet airliner, oh major cock-up, someones made a big mistake.

Another plane and the penny drops.

I was at home watching TV, so i knew it right away.

i was here in IW late at night when i found out because of the thread here. then turned on the tv... and watched till 4am in the morning.. different time schedule you know

I too was right here, my TV was right beside me while I was browsing Ironwroks and since the channel I was on was Sky news I heard it on TV first...but since I wasn't sure what the hell was going on it was comforting to see that others were witnessing the same events and that this couldn't be a cruel joke (like they had done once with a meteor incident or something).

It didn't seem real at first...and to this day I remember the words the news reporter said...this will undoubtedly bring gerat reprucssions and 9-11 will be remembered as a day that will in infamy.

How right he was.

Well, I was asleep when it happened. So was the rest of my family. It was nightime in Australia. In the morning, I was woken up by Mum screaming at Dad to switch on the TV. Knowing that something serious was going on, I crawled out of bed and was glued to the TV for the next few hours. Having just woken up, and still in a state of sleep induced grogginess, the whole thing seemed like a dream...or a nightmare. I literally was expecting myself to wake up and think it was all a dream. But I didn't.

I went to uni that day...I drove there, and I was listening to the radio. One radio station canned all the music, and simply let people ring up and express themselves. People were weeping and mourning over the airwaves. It was an amazing outpouring of emotion.

When I got to uni, I still felt in a daze, and lots of my uni friends said they felt the same too. I know it's become a cliche, but that day, I really did feel that the way I viewed the world had been irrevocably changed. That false, protective bubble that I naively thought protected me and other "more developed" countries (such as America) had burst: more so, I learned that it had never been there in the first place. To use a postmodernist term, it was all a simulation constructed by ourselves.

I was driving to work in Garden Grove... 7:15ish, sitting in traffic and clicked on KROQ (as always), Kevin and Bean were talking about planes hitting the WTC and Pentagon... and of course I assumed they were joking. (they're rather off-the-wall radio personalities) I remember thinking "This is a pretty stupid skit". About 2/3 the way through my 30 minute commute it started to sink into my sleep addled brain that they weren't joking. I called my wife on the cell phone and told her to turn on the TV... when she did the first thing she said was "oh my GOD!" and I knew it was bad. Once I got to work I jumped onto cnn.com and got some more information that way, I sat for maybe 20 minutes staring at the computer and then drove back to our apartment in Irvine to be with my family. I tried to call home to the house in NY to see how my sister was faring (she was house sitting alone) and couldn't get through.

I was really mad, and sad, and worried because I have so many friends that fly often.

For weeks I had difficulty concentrating on work, NY is my home state... my family lives there, my friends live there. Love it or hate it, it's a part of the family. It's weird sometimes the things that go through your mind at a time like that, I distinctly remember a discussion with God I had not long after I first found out about the attack, it went something like this - "GOD, All those times I told you to push NYC into the Atlantic... I WAS KIDDING!"

I was listening to my radio, 5 minutes after the first plane hit, when I heard the National Anthem start playing. I was surprised to hear it, but listened to it nevertheless. When the song was over the DJ came on and said that a plane had hit the WTC. I bolted out of my room and ran to turn on the TV. I got there just in time to see the second plane hit. I dont remember what I said, but I I do remember that my legs went boneless and I sort of collapsed into a chair. I was stunned. My Grandma and Niece came into the room to ask what was happening(I was living with/helping take care of my Grandma at the time). I told my Grandma, and she sat down with me to watch. We both just sort of stared blankly at the TV, watching in silence.

After a few minutes, when the numbness had started to wear off, I ran back into my room and logged onto MSN to get ahold of Cloudy. At the time, I didn't really realize that Albany NY is about a two hour drive from NYC. All I could think of was that she's in NY, and the Towers are in NY, and never in my life did I wish for the ability to teleport as I did at that instant. I spent the rest of the morning bouncing between the TV and the computer, talking to Cloudy and watching the news in horror. We(Cloudy and I) spent most of the day on IW and talking to each other on MSN, and worrying about our friends.

I was up early, playing BGII. Played till I was almost late for work, so dashed into a local restaurant for a take-out breakfast. They were all listening to the radio, talking about the first plane hitting the tower. I asked, stupidly, was anybody killed? The manager looked at me in wonderment and just said, "lots." When I got to work, <font color=lavender>Galadria</font> was on the phone, frantically. Her mother had called and told her about it. From then on, we had a portable TV on, and watched, between patients. My billing clerk screamed when the towers collapsed. I was just numbed with shock and rage, and kept remembering my late father, who, at the time of Pearl Harbor, had been stationed on board the battleship U.S.S. Washington. He said that, when they heard, they all went out and readied their guns. I wished that I had a battleship with guns.

<font color="plum">I was right here at work when a co-worker stuck his head in the door and said something about a terrorist attack against the World Trade Center. I asked him what he meant, and he said he had heard on the radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

Like everyone else, neither of us could really imagine that it was a jumbo jet line. Still, memories of April 19 and the attack in Oklahoma City sprang to mind - so I immediately tried to check out the story on CNN.com. I could NOT get into the website at all!!!

Finally, I went down the hallway looking for an empty room so I could turn on the TV (I work in a hospital). I found 3 more of my coworkers in the first room I came to. We all just stared at the TV in numb silence. The rest of the day was spent browsing Ironworks, repeatedly trying to get into CNN for updates (never did manage to access their site that day), and making more trips down the hall to learn the latest news.

It was truly a day of National Tragedy and Mourning. [img]graemlins/verysad.gif[/img] </font>

<font color="#55aacc"> I was in the break room at work, as were all 125 other people who work in this building watching as the second plane hit the tower.

I htink Im just going to stop for now and rember all those who died and those who have to live on missing someone from their lives :(

See you all tomorrow. </font>

I was here at Ironworks when Skywalker posted the thread that was to become such an outpouring of grief and anger. I remember switching on the TV and becoming gradually more horrified as the events unfolded.

Never have I felt such anguish, never have I witnessed such a monumental tragedy.

I would like to thank the members of Ironworks present at that time for helping me to share the emotions I felt, and to try and make sense of what had happened.

It is a day I will never forget.

I had gone to bed for the night but couldn't get to sleep - really restless. So I got up but didn't turn on any lights for some reason, just wandered round my unit and kept feeling like someone was around, or watching. Getting the creeps, I turned on the TV for 'company' to watch the first tower fall... My wife then walked out saying she couldn't sleep and felt nervy.
As I said in the Lest We Forget thread it was then a frantic number of hours on the phone after that.

I was going to my classes (which was a rare occasion). My second best friend Tae-Ming told me about the "bombing" of world trade towers. I had no idea what world trade towers were, and wasnt worried because after all, "bombing" couldnt do much dmg. Then at abt after noon, I heard the full report on the radio, which was playing on my school campus. I heard the number of casualties and the true description. I was shocked. but the terror did not hit home until I read every report I came by, and talked to everyone abt it, and watched the scene on tv.

to those who suffered greatly, I do not claim to suffer the same kind of pain you felt, but my heart, as well many others here, grief with you nevertheless.

Leo

[ 09-11-2002, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: 250 ]

Hm, it was around afternoon time here when I heard about it (this was after the towers had fallen). I'd been at the track all day, and suddenly one of the workers came out and shouted something. We all ran to her and she told us, and we went inside and watched the news. People were getting really emotional (myself included) and some were swearing and shouting and hitting the walls. Some were holding their heads in their hands, and others were just staring blankly. I lost a few friends in the incident, and I knew at the time that at least one of them was dead. So after a while, after the same images of the planes crashing and the buildings falling had become too much to bare, some people went home. However, one hell of a lot of people went out onto the track and ran as much as they could. I'm usually a sprinter, but I still cannot recall the number of laps I did before I went inside and slept on the sofa.
I remember the day EXTREMELY vividly, and I wish I didn't.

I was on my way to the dentist's office after attending my first class at school when it started.

I walked into the dentist's office and saw the two towers on fire and thought they were smoke stacks and that there had been some kind of industrial accident (small telly up in one corner of the waiting room and the muffled voice of the announcer was obviously sober).

It wasn't until I was closer to the telly, signing in that I heard Peter Jennings say "Again, two jet airliners full of passengers have crashed into the World Trade Center towers, setting them on fire..." and everything he said after that went unheard as I whirled around to look at the telly again and it was plain as day, those weren't smoke stacks and this was really happening.
The first collapse happened while I was still in the waiting room and people were asking what's that?, what's happening? as it started to shake. I was the only one (apparently) who recognized a building about to come down so I was the one to tell them all just before it fell. I still feel horrible about it but there is comfort in knowing that SO MANY people were able to get out.

I was in my dentist's chair when the second collapse occured and didn't look to see what was happening when I left the office, I just knew I had to get home to Grandpa. Grandpa watches television from the time he gets up until he goes to bed at night and although he usually watches oldies on cable channels, I knew somehow, he had seen it from the beginning. I was right. He was fairly upset and confused for quite some time.

[ 09-11-2002, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Moni ]

I was walking/running north along sixth avenue to go and do a vocal session further uptown from my apartment. I was late so I was hurrying. I noticed abnormally large crowds on the street, with some huddled around a radio.

I walked over and asked a gentleman what was going on. He looked me in the eye and calmly stated.

"Two planes just flew into the World Trade Centre. Terrorists they say."

I paused dumfounded and then turned around to see the nightmare before my eyes.

Never did I think that they would fall.

When the first one went I was then near a park, and had turned to keep walking after having another disturbed look.

I'll never forget the screams of pure panic and distress from men and women alike. I was confused and from the fear in the voices thought perhaps another plane was going to hit us.
I then heard "The tower's falling".

Such a..

All I could do was put my hand to my mouth and whisper the word "No" as I sickeningly watched human lives destroyed as the first tower went down in a billow of smoke.

Then.... chaos. The city shut down. Phones, banks, subways. Masses walked north. Masses. Some covered in dust in a daze.

All history now.

That night I rode around on a bike. The city was a ghost town. The nightly sickening smell of death, dust, rubble and asbestos began floating north that night.

And we readjusted. The nights following were incredible displays of human connection. Strength in unity. Hugs, conversation, music, prayers.

It's typified by the story of our churches bassist, who walked out of the WTC subway stop just as the first plane hit.

He ended up being caught in the cloud and ran, blinded, into a brick wall.

Dazed, surrounded by dust, he flailed around blindly. His hands touched someone, so he just held on. He held on!

Someone touched his belt and grabbed it. Another touched him and held on. There ended up being a group of humans huddled together, simply gaining comfort and strength by CONNECTING.

What a microcosmic example of the human existence. Right there. Ordinarily strangers who because of a disaster connected with each other and strengthened each other in an unbelievable way.

That gives reason to madness.

What we do with a negative situation is so important. We can use pain to connect deaper with each other. By healing each other we can know each other on such a deep level, in a depth usually glossed over when all's o.k.

Human need.

Find hope in this. Hope is the road forward.

Thank God for life, love, hope and an interesting ride...and that we're still on it - for it can end at any time.

[ 09-11-2002, 01:01 PM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

and thank god for pain, in many ways it is a gift man can feel the loss rather than going numb and unconcious. you do like New Yorkers, Hugh [img]smile.gif[/img]

Well i didn't know about it untill i got onto IW, sence i school haden't stated for me yeat that year it was about 8 or 9am here on the west coast. When i heard i emidiatly turned on the TV and watch it all day whail on the computer.

I was on my way home from work in my truck when i heard it on the radio, then also my sister called me an told me about a plane that have crached in to the WTC then i thinked that this must be a terrible mistake and when i come home i run in to my house and turned on the tv and then the second plane crached in to the other tower omg i thinked this can not be true..poor peoples but it was! :(
And i so peoples fall or jumped out of the windows and i had tears in my eyes because of this damn terrible thing that happend.
I watched the tv for houers i look at it on BBC World and they sendt the same over and over again and i could not stop to look at this.

I was in P.E., second period I believe. We'd been sprinting around the gym for 10 minutes, so we were all walking around, cooling down a bit. The principal came on over the intercom, and the coaches told us all to sit down where we were. The principal stuttered when he started, and we all got very quiet. He said that there'd been a terrorist attack on the world trade center, and that we shouldn't be afraid. He said all the planes had been grounded and nobody was going to hit the CDC. The intercom clicked off. There were a lot of scoffs, and snickers, and shrugs... I wasn't informed then so my initial reaction was a confused "WTF?". I went on to my lit class and it all pieced together. Miss Parker had the TV on, and was crying her eyes out. I looked at the TV, saw for the first time the horror, and it was like that plane was hitting me right through the stomach. I was almost mute for the rest of the day. I could only sit there with wide eyes.

[img]smile.gif[/img] I'm just happy to say that my lit class that year raised $5,000 for the American Red Cross.

<font color=seagreen>Though it doesn't seem like it's been a year, does it?</font>

[ 09-11-2002, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Killing Spree ]

I was at work when my roommate drove up to our jobsite and told me the WTC had been hit by planes. I thought of course a small plane somehow hit a building and then he told me two airliners and I knew it was terrorists. Most of the crew was working on the roff so I called them all down and we listened to the radio along with another framing crew across the street. I was on the phone with my best friend when he said HOLY SHIT one tower just went down. :( My first thought was there goes half the fire department of NY :( We tried to go back to work but nobody could concentrate. We heard possible Pentagon (true) State Department car bombing (false) a plane down in Pennsylvania. I remember thinking if a chemical/biological strike was next. I told the crew roll up the tools, we're going home. The crew across the street was doing the same. I went home and watched the horror.

An online friend of mine was supposed to go to a meeting in the WTC but took a sick friend to the doctor on the was so was late. His secretary was killed. They never found a bit of her. A coworker had a body land within 5 feet of him. He was covered in...everything. Jim said he wasnt the same. If any of you play the online game Gemstone my friend was Lord Heston. He died of a heart attack a month ago (only 42). He was obsessed with what happened. The stress surely had a factor in his death. :(

The week following 9/11 were a dark day for Ironworks as well. Quite a few flamewars broke out here and I unfortunatly was involved. Emotions ran high and for awhile things were out of hand. Myself included. I am not going to say who I was arguing with but will say we put it past us and now talk like friends again,which I like. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I dont know what more to say~ LoA/Paul

[ 09-11-2002, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Lord of Alcohol ]

It was just before lunchtime at our school, and our teacher just walks in and calmy tells us, "Terrorists have hijacked planes and smashed into the WTC and Pentagon. The two towers have collapsed. Enjoy your lunch."

Well good being in Good ol NY, we were in school. I was in Spanish class, when my spanish teacher had to leave because her daughter arrived at work at the WTC when the first plane hit. So we went home. Boy, the next week security was tight. They had tanks and army troopers right by Indian Point (The Nuclear Power Plant that we live close too). It was really freaking scary. We had a no flight zone for awhile, it was the most eerie thing ever to happen to us. My mom witnessed the actuall towers get hit and watched em fall down. Its one of the reasons why i hate school. A world wide tradgedy happens, we can't even go home to be with our families and watch the news. It really pisses me off.

I remember it as if it was yesterday, like I can imagine most do. I was on my way to school, and I was actually listening to the Howard Stern show, a show which I do not normally listen to. I heard them saying something about how the first tower had collapsed, and I didn't really comprehend what they were talking about. Knowing the type of show It was I thought, at first, that it was some kind of not very funny joke, but as they continued talking about it I slowly came to the realization that they were not kidding. Stupified, I changed radio stations and lo and behold the immpossible had happened. One tall proud symbol of world unity had collapsed, and the other was critically damaged, both with people trapped inside. It was like a sharp blow to the heart. Shock washed over me in waves, slowly at first but growing gradually stronger as realization sunk in. I asked myself questions. How, then why and who? But answers were illusive in the growing cloud of confusion surrounded the events of the day. I was on my way to school when I first heard, and by this time I was already there, but I sat in my car in the parking lot immobile, as I heard the second building had collapsed, and the World Trade Center was no more. Then looking around for the first time. I noticed people milling about the parking lot, some of them crying others with a look of horror on their face, some just looked as if they were lost. This is when I came to the realization of what had happened. The World Trade Centers were no more, and neither were some of the poor people traped within them when these atrocious acts were committed. Innocent people just going to work trying to do their job as best they could to support their families and themselves. A terrible rage flowed through me coupled by a terrible grief. A grief for the innocent victims, a grief for their families, a grief for the entire nation, and a rage. A rage at those who committed these terrible cowardly deeds, a rage at anyone who supported them, and a rage at any country that would harbor them. Everyone was touched irrevocably that day. Some were affected more directly than others, but none was left untouched by the morose events of that day. On this somber day of rememberence my heart goes out to the entire nation, espcially to those directly affected by this terrible tragedy. May whatever higher power you believe in watch over each and every one you and your loved ones.

I was scheduled to start work an hour later than normal for the entire week. My radio alarm woke me up and I remember hearing the disk jockey talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. At first I thought it was a joke and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and went to the TV and turned on CNN. When I saw the footage I became numb. I continue to watch the coverage until I had to go to work. During that time I saw the second plane hit and both towers go down. As I saw the first tower go down, I ran to the phone and called work to tell them the news. During the day, I was scared. The world that I had know had been turned upside down.

I was waking up for school and heard it on the radio. First out of anyone in my family to hear it. Thought it was either a joke or a dinky little biplane or something. Then I switched on the TV and was amazed. I still didn't think of it as anything. Probably just some moron, but it was too bad that a bunch of people got killed. Then I realized that actually two planes had crashed. I felt the biggest chill down my spine I have ever felt. Anyway, I took the bus to school where there was all of one thing being discussed. I got to school, and about 10 minutes later a kid told me the towers had collapsed. I felt like throwing up. While it was going on though (benefit of high school) there were all kinds of other rumors, of up to ten planes being hijacked. Anyway, I finally got it all straightened out at home, watching Newsworld (Canadian CNN.)

By the way, to all you Americans, we Canadians and you may have our differences, but we feel for you guys.

That truly is awful.