Where were you on 9/11?

[DeviantProtagonist]

Well, having been the 11th of September, I doubt there's a person in this world who doesn't remember what happened in America fourteen years ago. I just want to take the time to ask where any of you were when it happened and how it affected you.

From what jumbled pieces I have, I've been in elementary school. Being about eleven years old, our class was simply minding our own in the everyday, mundane atmosphere. I think it was some time before lunch hour when things went out of whack.

Then, a voice sounded the intercom and mandated all classes be shut down. Many students had no clue, but the more you looked upon staff, they had this bereaved look -- almost motionless in a sense. They didn't hide it well if you paid close attention.

When I got home, my parents were similarly distressed, but they did their best to put their face on for me. I remember the smouldering second tower, right after the first fell. Everything's blank afterwards, but it's fair to imagine I was whisked away.

It's pretty surreal, right down to when one finally discovers they caught Bin Laden. What a feeling that was, so any thoughts to share?

[MetalPredat0r]

My memory of what happened is rather foggy. I was around five years old when it happened so I have barely any memory of what everyone's reaction was at the time.

It wasn't until around 1st Grade where I discovered 9/11 via a book that talked about the plane crash. Given that it was 1st Grade, it left out the details of it being a terrorist attack and only talked about the crash into the Twin Towers.

Years later was when I discovered the actual motives and reasoning and I couldn't believe it. It didn't help that in Middle School at one point we spent an entire Early Release day studying 9/11 due to the event's 10th Anniversary.

So yes, I don't know where I was on 9/11 due to being very young at the time but after later research, my condolences to those who lost loved ones on that day only grew.

Makes me slightly anxious given my close ties to airports and whatnot.

[Nayre]

I don't recall much about the event either and I wasn't particularly effected by it.  It happened way back when I was a wee little tyke in my early elementary years during school.  All I remember is that there was a sudden commotion over something happening and my teacher hurried into the room and turned on the news.  Her reaction was like "Oh my god..."  And we all gathered around the small tv to see what was going on.  I remember seeing the streets of New York in shambles while covered in ash and smoke. I didn't know what was going on at the time.  We all just sat there watching it for a while and that's where my memory ends.  I don't think school was cancelled that day for us though, everything went by as usual.

[nastynate]

Y'all making me feel old. I was already in high school. West coast, so when the first plane hit it was around 6am. I heard my dad yelp in shock which was what woke me up. I went to the living room and saw the live footage of the tower in smoke.

What stuck me most was right when I turned my head away to go brush my teeth, that's when the second plane hit on TV. School was pretty subbed. No tests, any serious lessons. Some classes even turned on the TV and radio. After that, things moved back to normal that week, guess 'cause we were on the other side of the country.

The thing you (then?) kids don't remember is all the constant coverage. It was fucking exhausting. This was also around the time when video stores like Hollywood Video were still common place, so we and others tired of the 24/7 coverage would rent movies in bulks. That's about it as far as where I was at the time. My family or friends didn't know anyone who lived in the east coast, so we were pretty detached from it. That isn't to say that the stories and fire-hand experiences from people who were affected by it didn't move me to tears. I even plan to go to the memorial they set up there, since I heard it was beautiful and very humbling.

Yeah man, I was pretty much maturing into adulthood and I felt that was the end of the "party" for my generation. It was a lot more carefree back then. The worst is it ruined my favorite holiday, Halloween, in my city. Even now, people aren't up to keeping up the trick-or-treating tradition since "fear culture" took over.
I don't know, maybe you younger folks didn't have as bad.

[ChocoCats]

My memories of 9/11 is pretty much blank but this is what my mother told me.

On that day, we were at home, preparing to go to school. My mother used to work at the World Trade Center basement floor, but she took a day off because of school. After we went to school, my grandmother called my mother to turn on the TV because the World Trade Center is on fire. Since she doesn't understand English, she doesn't know what's going on. My mother turned off the TV and was shocked. She was wondering how the pilot crashed into the building. She called the rest of my family to see if they're okay. They're fine but were worried. My father was driving to work but came back home to hear the news. When the 2nd plane crashed into the building, they realized that this was no accident, it's a terrorist attack. And that's the end.

Overall, it did affect my family slightly, but not much for me. I was simply too young to remember it nor I personally cared for it. Though I'll give my condolences to those who lost their lives.

[Virgofall]

I'm honestly detached from the event myself; it didn't affect me nor my family in any way as far as I can tell, and at the time I had a lot of other psychological matters to deal with. I was in fifth grade or so when the incident occurred, and didn't remember hearing about it until I came home from school that day (I live in New York, but nowhere near the city). What happened slowly sunk in as the days went by, but not really on a personal level. I did see the impact it made on both Muslim-Americans and airport security, though, and seeing these aspects affected me more than the actual event (probably because the event itself just happened, but the fallout remained for a long while).

[seibo]

I was in 1st grade at the time and like many of the other youngins I didn't know what was going on. I don't remember if there was an announcement or not, but early morning my teacher had the news on for everyone to watch. In hindsight maaaybe not the best decision to be showing a full class 6 year olds a terrorist attack, but that's just me. I was mostly confused as to what was going on and why my teacher was so upset. A lot of people were being called out of class and I think my mom picked me up (and my older sister) around noon.

I didn't actually understand what happened until two years later, and even then it still didn't quite hit me that people died. In 3rd grade everyone was assigned a US state to do a report on and I got New York. Part of my assignment was to talk about all the important landmarks/ places and I briefly mentioned the World Trade Center. As I was presenting my research (either to my parents at home or to my teacher for the actual grade) an adult interrupted me about how they weren't there anymore. Which I thought was weird because the book in the library didn't mention that it was gone. But then it was vaguely explained to me that was what happened 9/11.