Remembering 9/11
I know this isn't my usual kind of post, but I felt like this is such a huge part of our history now. I remember I was in school when this happened. It was science class...yes, I can even remember the specific class...and I remember at the time, everyone was being rowdy. It's possible that class just started or we were in the midst of travel time and suddenly the PA goes off and our principal was announcing what had happened.
I think the noise and suddenness shocked me. I first thought we were being told there was a plane crash in New York, and I was kind of wondering, why is this news to us here in Missouri? But then the class finally shut up and we started hearing more details. Then the teacher brought out a TV and we started watching the news...and then there was this kind of shock.
There was an upside to having all my family be mostly in one state. I had some relatives in Wisconsin and my other relatives lived in Lancaster, NY, which I knew was far from this so I was relieved in the sense that they were all right. But then the news just kept going and it left me feeling sick and even more confused in a sense because I guess I wasn't quite old enough to understand politics well, not that I know them better now either!
I remember in the years to come afterwards I was wary of traveling. In November 2003 I got on a plane for the first time after these events with a little fear but at least knowing things were hopefully more secure now. Obviously everything went smoothly at that time. But I'll admit, I still fear wary when traveling on planes and I've done a fair amount of traveling for book events via plane. The fear still doesn't leave really. Which in a sense is why I had to make myself pass on wanting to finally attend Apollycon next year. Being in Washington DC and what with all the stuff happening in the news lately, going up that way just gives me bad vibes. But obviously if I was anywhere near local I would soooo be there!
I think I remember even having a surreal moment when I saw in my niece's little social studies book a mentioning of 9/11 because it's like whoa. I was alive when that happened!
But what about you guys? What were you doing when you heard about the crash that we would soon remember as 9/11?
I live on the west coast of the US. I'd slept in late the day of the 9/11 attacks. I remember waking up and turning on the television thinking I'd be watching some morning talk shows while eating breakfast... But surprise! Every television channel's regular shows had been interrupted by the news media broadcasting the events of 9/11. It was surreal and very scary seeing the footage and trying to make sense of what was happening as more information was only beginning to trickle in.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like the only thing we heard about on the news for hours, days, weeks, was the events of 9/11. I don't remember anything else even being discussed on the news around that time. It was just the tragic events of 9/11.
If memory serves me correctly, people on travel were stranded for quite awhile after 9/11 happened and people were afraid to travel for awhile on planes. The airline industry took a major hit after 9/11. See link: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-us-airline-industry-has-changed-since-911-2011-9#airlines-have-lost-a-total-of-55-billion-since-2001-1
I remember this day vividly as well. My husband had left for work and he called me and told me to turn on the TV, and I was in shock at what I was seeing. When the second plane hit, it became obvious that this was no accident. It was incredibly surreal. And then there was this giant boom that shook our house---turned out it was a military plane that had created a sonic boom, but it was terrifying for a moment! I'm glad you took time to remember that day!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction