Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - September 11, 2001

MarchHare · 08-30-2011, 01:09 PM

It was the morning of the first day of classes during my last year at university. I remember starting the day following my usual morning routine: wake up, take a shower, prepare a cup of coffee, and check a few websites to see what's happening around the world. I was sharing an apartment with four other students at the time, and I was the first of us to see the news a few minutes after the first tower was hit. There was so much confusion at the time, and the initial reports were unclear if it was a small GA plane or a large jetliner. Nobody at that point could say if it was a freak accident or a terrorist attack. Then the second plane hit and was caught on camera live by numerous news crews. I emailed my parents immediately and told them to stop whatever they were doing and get to a TV now.

I left for class shortly after, and my fellow students and I were discussing the attacks before the prof arrived. Being a news junkie, I was one of the few people in that class who knew bin Laden's name (from the USS Cole and embassy bombings), and I speculated that he was the most likely suspect. The prof came in a few minutes later, made a few brief remarks, handed out the syllabus for the semester, then told us to go watch the news for the rest of his scheduled class time.

A few friends from class and I headed to the campus pub where they were showing CNN on the televisions. There was a fairly large group of students already there, which would normally be unheard of at 10:00AM on a Tuesday morning. It was here that we first heard about the attack on the Pentagon and that United Airlines was "very concerned" about another plane with which they were unable to establish communication (this was United 93, which later crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the hijackers). While here we saw both towers come down live on television. There were loud gasps when it happened, and some people were crying.

The rest of the day was a blur. I had another class at 3:30, but instead of letting us out early, this prof used the day's events as a teaching point; it was a computer networks course, so he talked about how the Internet was designed to continue functioning even in the event of a nuclear war, but network congestion was killing sites like CNN and most other online news outlets.

After class, I went to a friend's apartment where we continued watching the news (flipping between CNN and CBC Newsworld) until about 1:00AM or so when I finally went home and got some sleep.

08-30-2011, 01:09 PM	#45
MarchHare Franchise Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: YSJ (1979-2002) -> YYC (2002-2022) -> YVR (2022-present) Exp:	It was the morning of the first day of classes during my last year at university. I remember starting the day following my usual morning routine: wake up, take a shower, prepare a cup of coffee, and check a few websites to see what's happening around the world. I was sharing an apartment with four other students at the time, and I was the first of us to see the news a few minutes after the first tower was hit. There was so much confusion at the time, and the initial reports were unclear if it was a small GA plane or a large jetliner. Nobody at that point could say if it was a freak accident or a terrorist attack. Then the second plane hit and was caught on camera live by numerous news crews. I emailed my parents immediately and told them to stop whatever they were doing and get to a TV now. I left for class shortly after, and my fellow students and I were discussing the attacks before the prof arrived. Being a news junkie, I was one of the few people in that class who knew bin Laden's name (from the USS Cole and embassy bombings), and I speculated that he was the most likely suspect. The prof came in a few minutes later, made a few brief remarks, handed out the syllabus for the semester, then told us to go watch the news for the rest of his scheduled class time. A few friends from class and I headed to the campus pub where they were showing CNN on the televisions. There was a fairly large group of students already there, which would normally be unheard of at 10:00AM on a Tuesday morning. It was here that we first heard about the attack on the Pentagon and that United Airlines was "very concerned" about another plane with which they were unable to establish communication (this was United 93, which later crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the hijackers). While here we saw both towers come down live on television. There were loud gasps when it happened, and some people were crying. The rest of the day was a blur. I had another class at 3:30, but instead of letting us out early, this prof used the day's events as a teaching point; it was a computer networks course, so he talked about how the Internet was designed to continue functioning even in the event of a nuclear war, but network congestion was killing sites like CNN and most other online news outlets. After class, I went to a friend's apartment where we continued watching the news (flipping between CNN and CBC Newsworld) until about 1:00AM or so when I finally went home and got some sleep.