Where were you on 9/11/01?

I was at work, talking on the phone to an out-of-state vendor. One of his colleagues interrupted our conversation to tell him about the first plane. We originally thought it was a small plane whose pilot got lost in bad weather (at that point none of us had any idea what the New York City weather was like that morning). But when the second plane hit a couple of minutes later we knew we were wrong. We immediately ended the call and I turned on the radio. I didn't see any video footage until after I got home from work. Like others have mentioned - almost no work got done that day.

I also remember how eerily quiet the skies were for the next couple of days. Yes, it was noticeable if you lived near an airport, even small ones.

North Florida, 8:00 to 9:00 AM, Elementary school (grade 2); my name is A. Age 8. I carry a hall pass.
...
The story you're about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
...
Scene: enter the classroom. TV is on checking weather reports, as usual (Ms. Starsky's routine).

I'm reading a videogame cheat code book. Earlier, I did my first ever live school newscast. It was successful. I was relieved and already exhausted before the day had begun. Ms. Starsky was proud I did it (me being a shy boy). Not bad for someone educated in the school's disability program.

TV: We interrupt this broadcast. Words cannot describe the images we're about to display on screen...
[Plane hits World Trade Center]
TV: . . .
[Second plane hits]
TV: Oh my... I cannot believe what we have just witnessed.

Adults are silent. All children, including me, are clueless. Eventually, I realized something was wrong. No grown-up was happy, their faces holding back tears. They were trying to stay strong for all of us. I knew not to ask why.

Finding out at home, being told by mom, I was shocked, then angry. Angry!
God Bless the USA is singing all over the radio. I'm annoyed by it's constant playing after a while, feeling sad and miserable.

Sometime later: Mr. President (Jorge M. Rush; *W. Bush*)
We go to war.
Me: [thinking this is not good even though I love my people and country, feeling confused]

~~/o/

[deleted]

9th Grade Spanish class. I was thrilled class was disrupted, until we were brought into another room to watch the live news footage. After staring in disbelief for a while, I couldn't help but to think how many people had died before my eyes. Classes were very different in the days following. It was more like a group therapy/discussion atmosphere. I'm grateful my school didn't try to pretend like things were fine...because they were not.

To the original poster, I agree about the weather. The bright blue skies with no clouds really stand out in my memory.

I came right from work and went to my friends,who usually were smoking weed and playing X-box.
This day the news were on for a change and I got filled in that a fucking plane had hit one of the towers.
We smoked a bowl and were making jokes until we saw the second plane came crashing.
No jokes after that.
Just a bunch of paranoid potheads waiting for WWIII

at school turning in my homework

I'm in Australia. It was late at night and I was in bed. My partner woke me up and told me world war III had just started. I'm like wtf? I got up and watched live as the towers collapsed. Couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My mom was driving me to school when we heard about the first plane on the radio. I was in homeroom when we heard about the second plane. We watched the news coverage the rest of the day. It was so surreal.