Where Were You When...
When you heard the news about 911 (if you can remember it). I was only a few years old at the time, but my mum told me that since 8:00 AM in America is 10:00 PM in Australia, she didn't hear about it until she went to work on what was September 12th here, probably just hours after the attacks were over. But the first time I heard of 9/11 was when I saw Flight 93, a movie based around the fourth plane that never hit it's target. Years, later I saw the movie based solely on the WTC attacks. If this question seems insensitive, I'm very sorry, but 9/11 has always been an interesting topic that I'm always happy to discuss.
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One thing I did know is that I was almost out of gas in the car, and given the uncertainty, I figured I should probably have more. So I went out to get some. Thing is, everyone else had the same idea, and all of the gas stations had run out. I kept driving further and further looking for gas, and being low to begin with, I wasn't sure I would be able to make it back if I didn't find any. I did eventually find some.
Technology at the time: There was a public Internet, though not everyone had broadband (dialup was still popular). Some people had analog cell phones, but it was nowhere near as prevalent as today (and they were pretty bulky). There certainly wasn't a Twitter. So it was possible to share some things on the Internet, but not quite what it would be like if it happened today.
Some co-workers of mine at the time have a more interesting story. They were in the air when it happened, traveling to a customer meeting. Of course, once planes landed, they weren't allowed to take off anymore, and no one knew how long that was going to last (it turned out to be several days). So they wound up stuck at whatever airport they ended up at. They wound up renting a car and driving back home across several states.
As for who knew, as details emerged, former President Bill Clinton commented that he had been pretty sure, even though he wasn't in the loop anymore. He said it had to be either Osama bin Laden or Iran, and it wasn't going to be Iran, because if they had tried that, they would have been blown to smithereens.
I've never heard of any Osama bin Laden denials, but there are the tin-foil-hat folks out there who think the U.S. engineered it all so they would have an excuse to expand their surveillance powers.
You know, I'm really critical of the new World Trade Center building (also called the Freedom Tower). The design looks flashy and dumb, and the New York City skyline would look terrible with WTC 2 and 3 added (if they go along with the current designs. The rooftops are all at different angles and it looks really childish. I can understand wanting to build a new building, because the NYC skyline looks incomplete without the World Trade Center. The original Twin Towers had a simple design, but it was still a good design and was part of a great NYC skyline. But what's worse is that New Yorkers will have to put up with this building for decades, at the very least. I think a different design or maybe just a beautiful park as a monument, because building a new building like this is like sweeping 911 under the rug. I simply can't appreciate the New York skyline with the new WTC.
I was around 11 or so and just came back from School. My Father had it on TV then. Due to my Age and not being a US Citizen i haven't really understood what was going on first.
I was in Kindergarten when it happened. I don't remember us being told anything about what happened at school, but I do remember that during our afternoon nap (when I was supposed to be asleep) our teacher was sitting in front of the classroom's TV with the news on and the volume almost at zero. I had no idea what was happening until I got home, but I always remembered watching the news from across the room like that in the dark because I thought ti was so weird that she had the TV on at that time of the day.
I was at school (3rd Grade) and we were sent home early. Some of the older kids were told what was going on but most were being cagey about it. Then my older sister bluntly said "the twin towers fell over." In hindsight, the way she said it was funny (in a very morbid way), but otherwise it was a very dark time that I thankfully don't recall that well.
I actually remember the prelude to the Iraq War a lot better because I heard it all unfold. (I underwent eye surgery the day before, so I didn't see much of anything.) Looking back now, it's kind of amazing how cocky people were. Looking back, the patriotic fervor that engulfed us after 9/11 was justified, but also embarrassing and disturbing in a lot of ways.
"Export democracy," they said, "it will pay or itself" they said.