9/11

Sep. 11th, 2011 05:34 am
mickeym: (misc_veterans day)
[personal profile] mickeym
First, this is a truly awesome story: Remembering 9/11, An Unexpected Gift To America

Second, I'm working on catching up on comments, in between studying, labs and homework. So if you get comment responses from me to things from last month...that's why.

Finally, 9/11. The 'writer's block' question for today is, appropriately, "Where were you?".

I was at work. At that time, I was a file clerk for a local law firm. I'd just tried to call my sister to ask her...something, I can't even remember now what it was, and kept getting an "all circuits are busy" message. I called my mom in San Diego to ask her if she knew what was going on, but it was only about 7a out there; she was barely awake, much less aware of anything.

We had no TV in the office, and only one radio, on the office manager's desk. She told us what she was hearing, and we all gathered in her office to listen. I asked to leave for the day and went home to try (unsuccessfully) to contact my sister. I remember feeling really, really vulnerable as I drove home, like everything was suddenly too open, too free.

Doug and I didn't have cable in the house yet, and our internet connection was dial-up only, so we missed a lot of the initial reports and commentary. It was well after 9p before I learned that my sister and her husband were fine. Jen's office was about a mile away from the WTC, and Joe's was even further than that, I think. I know one of Joe's nephews was in one of the (smaller) Trade Center buildings when they were hit, but he got out without any injuries. My sister called me, and asked me to call our dad because if he was drunk she said she wouldn't be able to deal with it.

I still can't believe it's been ten years.

Date: 2011-09-11 01:35 pm (UTC)
ext_8753: (Default)
From: [identity profile] vickita.livejournal.com
There's a part of me that STILL can't believe the buildings fell. I mean, just from a gut level, "But that can't *happen*, can it?" kind of place. Still can't believe there was such a coordinated attack. I was listening to the audio of the air traffic controllers this week, and yeah, I was just as stunned and disbelieving as they were.

I was home sick with a cold. I got up at my regular time that morning, decided I was too sick to go to work, called in, dosed myself up with Nyquil, and went back to bed. Everything was normal.

When I woke up, mid-morning, I went and turned on the TV -- my default channel back then was CNN -- and the first thing I saw was the Pentagon. It *scared* me -- anyone who would have the temerity to attack the *Pentagon* was looking to start a war. And then I saw the footage of the towers falling, and I very literally could. not. understand what I was seeing. Fuzzy from the Nyquil, alone in the house, I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. I had to call the office and talk to a friend and say, "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" before I really got it.

Spent the rest of the day on the couch, sleeping and watching and crying. It felt a lot like the night I sat up all night watching the aftermath of the OKC bombing. Gah.

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