Seriously, admit that you thought it was kinda cool when the Twin Towers fell...at least for a second... I remember being kinda excited that my girlfriend at the time got the day off so we could hang out. Not the most sensitive reaction, but at least I'm being honest here...

I thought of my friend and ex-girlfriend who worked on the 79th floor of one of the towers. It wasn't until four or five days later that I found out that she had been laid off in late August.

When I woke up on Sept 11, 2001 I was hung over from band practice the night before. I checked my email before heading out to work and read that one of the towers of the WTC had been hit by a plane, and scrolled through the ensuing thread to read more rumors about the Pentagon being hit, the State Dept having a bomb planted outside it, and something about a plane involved in all this madness having taken off from Dulles Airport which was basically right across the street from where I lived at the time.

The first actual reaction I remember having was "What the fuck." I turned on the TV and tuned to CNN just in time to see the second tower get hit by another plane, things exploding, and towers starting to fall. At this point hysteria struck me full-on and I began crying, thinking about the numerous people who had surely just been killed and who had already died earlier that morning, and sure that this was the beginning of the end. I then began worrying about my dad, who worked in DC, and my many friends who lived and worked in NYC. Once the hysteria abated, I prayed for safety and started calling around to see who was okay and who couldn't be accounted for.

I was relieved that I did not have to drive into work, but unsure that I was any safer at home. I do not remember finding anything about that morning 'cool,' or funny, in the least.

Joseph wrote:Seriously, admit that you thought it was kinda cool when the Twin Towers fell...at least for a second...

No.

Feeling like it's "kinda cool": you can't help how you feel.
Recognizing that you felt it was "kinda cool": not crap.
Not feeling any shame for having felt it was "kinda cool": crap.

I can honestly say that I didn't think there was anything "cool" at all about it. I never felt so alone and far from home as I did that night in Japan, on the opposite side of the world from everyone I loved, watching my country under attack by who knew whom, not knowing how long it was going to last (and I'm still surprised that it was only 3 attacks and only on that one day), not knowing anything. And the more I thought about it, the worse it got - what would the response be, both at home and abroad? Would my home become a target? You think, yeah, Lansing, big deal, but at the time (and maybe still today?) it was the home of the only US factory that produced an anthrax vaccine. And then I thought about my Muslim friends, and was afraid for their well-being. No, there was nothing "cool" about it.

Now, I can say (and I'm taking into account
Joseph
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
when I say this) that I did think some aspects of Katrina were "kinda cool". And I feel really lousy for feeling this way. But this was really just a sense of sheer awe about what was happening, and just, you know, what nature is capable of. I didn't think there was anything "cool" about what happened to the people of the Gulf Coast, just the cities, if you know what I mean. And I still feel pretty crappy about that.

in order:

- "holy shit, howard stern must be dead, he's off the air."

- "this is worse than when a b-25 hit the empire state building a long time ago"

- (2nd plane) "only governments with air forces train pilots."

- (collapse) when the aerial on the tower moved, i heard a gurgling/whining sound from the back of someone's throat, which turned out to be my own

- (out the window, i spot two illinois air national guard f-18s heading north toward downtown from downstate) "that's combat air patrol. that's combat air patrol. over my head, in chicago, this morning, combat fucking air patrol."

I was at first scared of what they were gonna hit next, then I immediately forgot about it. About anhour later when I saw my friend and he said something to the effect of "this is a dark day" I asked why.
Later on I felt sad, of course. But not for a while....

I was working at the CBOT at the time and they have like a 100 foot TV in the corner of the room on all day to the news stations.
I read the caption on the screen and the newscasters were talking about a plane hitting the world trade center, they thought it might be an accident and they said it was a small plane. I said 'wow, that's fucked up' and went back to my business. Eventually they switch over and I'm watching it burn out of the corner of my eye just thinking it was a bad accident. I look up and see the second plane hit live and I said 'wow, that's REALLY fucked up' people started freaking out running around talking about it. A lot of those companies at the CBOT had offices in the world trade center so people were freaking out trying to call their friends or bosses or coworkers to see if they were ok and telling them to get the fuck out. I sat and listened to one of the guys talking to someone who was stuck in one of the buildings for awhile, he was taking a message to give to his family if he died. When they clicked over and I saw the pentagon was in flames I said 'ok, time to go home we are under attack' people were running around saying 2 planes were hijacked out of Milwaukee and headed toward Chicago and there are 25 planes altogether that have been hijacked all over the country. Someone said the white house had been hit and destroyed, and that car bombs were going off all over the country.
I couldn't figure out what country would attack the united states it made no sense for a country to start bombing us out of nowhere.
I found my girlfriend at the time and we headed off toward the train.
On the train home someone had a little radio on and we heard first that people were jumping out of the buildings and then that the first building fell. People gasped and started crying. There was an old man sitting there and he says 'I hope you all know what has just begun, this is world war 3 folks'
All I could think of was that a shitload of people who had exactly the same job as I did, just in a different city had just died horrible deaths for no reason whatsoever. I got home and watched the news all night just in shock.
Never once did I think 'this is kinda cool' I can't imagine any human being with even an ounce of decency thinking for one second it was anything but horrible.

warmowski wrote:- "holy shit, howard stern must be dead, he's off the air."

He was off the air in Chicago? In DC he was on the air until at least 930 or so (I went into work then, as I had been on my way in when the planes hit the WTC and stopped along the way to leave voicemails with almost everyone I knew in NYC), but heard that he remained on the air all morning.

I work a couple miles from the Pentagon and live in downtown DC. The plane that hit the Pentagon almost certainly flew right over my building on its approach. My reactions were pretty basic: fear for my friends' safety and my own survival, and a sense of personal devastation, not only for all those lives lost, but more selfishly for that view of the NYC skyline. I loved seeing those towers as I approached the city. I still miss them.

That evening I drove alone on the highway into DC through clouds of smoke and the smell of burning jet fuel, past dozens of armored personal carriers and hundreds of armed troops on nearly-empty city streets, miles out of my way (the National Mall was cordoned off) to my home.

I was an emotional mess for a few days. Actually, I still am when I really start thinking about it or see that footage.

CRAP.

I was getting my driver's liscence that morning, actually. My mom called my Dad on his cell to tell him a plane just hit a Twin Tower.

My mental reaction: "How the fuck do you miss seeing one of the biggest buildings in the world heading straight towards you?"

When the second plane hit: "oh shit..."

My first reaction was to be angry. Then, at school that day when all we did was watch the tv, all I could think about was "I'm going to need to remember this when my kids ask me... ....If we're not doing anything at school, I'd rather go home... ...Whats in Atlanta, the CDC? Lockheed/Martin's 7 miles from my house..."

Then, I never wanted to look at the news again. Ever.

endofanera wrote:

warmowski wrote:- "holy shit, howard stern must be dead, he's off the air."

.

I have the Howard Stern show from that morning on a CD, it's facinating to listen to it.
It's in my files on soulseek if you wanna grab it feel free.