I didn't hear about the planes until I has gotten to school, the vice principal came on the pa announcer and told us that there had been an attack on the United States. We were sent off to our first class which was math. The teacher had the radio on. At this time, flight 93 was still missing and I remember just sitting there... As the news that the plane crashed in the field was being broken (this was about 9 am mountain time).... I will never forget the silence in that room as long as I live. Chills me to this day.
Was getting ready for work, my then-GF-now-wife had the TV on the news, they showed video after the first plane it.
Went to work, someone had a small TV in their office, the second plane hit, not sure if anyone at the office saw that part. That's when one of the staff said "it's a terrorist attack!"
And then the towers fell later on.
Weird day. I was on contract so I had to focus on my work if I wanted to get paid.
edit: looking at the timeline, I probably wasn't at work yet when the second plane hit. Makes sense since I never saw it happening.
__________________
If you don't pass this sig to ten of your friends, you will become an Oilers fan.
In 2011 I interviewed for a position at a small university in NYC, located on the southern tip of Manhattan, and mere blocks from the WTC. Several of the faculty there were on campus that day, and had harrowing stories of what it was like.
__________________
Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
I finished a grave yard shift at a bus mechanic shop in Banff.
4 or us finished our shift and 3 of us were waiting in buddy's car to go home to canmore. He forgot something and went back into the shop to grab it.
Dude had a penchant for telling tall tales so when he came in all exasperated saying someone attacked the pentagon we laughed and called BS him.
We get back to my buddy's place where we were going to smoke some J's and have a few beers after a long night of work and turned on the news. CNN. Tower 1 was smoking and were dropped our jaws. Apologized to tall tale guy.
And as lit J #1 and cracked beer #2... 2nd plane hits.
We all teared up. A bunch of macho mechanic 20 something dudes and welled up like babies, in awe of seeing such a brazen terror act live on TV.
We swore this was going to kick off ww3 and it was time to get properly effed up before getting drafted into war.
Then came the era of the conspiracy theories. Which I almost bought. But it also did such a disservice to the affected and the 1st responders I cringed.
Then came the E.I.T and Gitmo thing.
And then came the Drone strikes and that whole debate.
Then came the 10 year anniversary. Sobering at how slow it all went in the hunt.
Then Obamas UBL we got him speech.
Now just before year 20 hits I watch the Netflix doc about the entire thing. From 20 years before to what ended with the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the battle to get Afghanis out who worked for the west.
Holy hell this war on terror theater was crazy.
It changed the world these last 20 years and I say not for the better.
I was in grade school still but my dad had a business flight to Houston that morning. While he was at the airport he saw all of the flight schedules turn to "CANCELLED". He called the house and asked me to turn the TV on CNN. I didn't fully understand what the twin towers were, but I told him the twin towers have been bombed (initial report) and he was floored.
All day was spent in school watching it on TV. After lunch the school had an all student assembly in the gym where we watched the news unfold. This assembly was different though, no jokes or snorts were heard, just electric silence for hours.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by oilboimcdavid
Eakins wasn't a bad coach, the team just had 2 bad years, they should've been more patient.
I remember getting off the LRT and seeing a crowd of people gathered around the A-Channel studio (they had TVs in their front window). At the time it wasn't clear what had happened, was this an accident or were the planes deliberately flown into the building. We didn't have a TV or radio in our office, all morning I kept checking internet news sites but they were so overwhelmed I couldn't get on so didn't get much detail until around lunchtime.
My aunt and uncle were in DC when 9/11 happened. Because communications were down nobody had heard from them for a few days. I vividly remember my cousin's new wife brought him to my mom's house one might, full blown panic attack, vomiting, crying, falling over - an absolute mess
My rellies were fine, they were essentially taken in by a local couple they had met at a convention (or something) that they were attending
The massive reach that the events had in the moment have provided researchers a tonne of data for studying so-called "flash-bulb" memories, and the results are revealing. While each and every one of us is dead certain about everything we experienced in those moments, on that day, numerous studies have shown that most of us are completely wrong about all sorts of things that seem to us as doubtless.
For example, I also remember very clearly watching the second plane hit the S. Tower live, just as I was getting ready to head to work that morning. My wife is convinced she watched it with me, but it happened @0600 here on the coast, and I am sure she was still sleeping.
We both share the same certainty about our own memories, but clearly at least one of us is completely wrong about it.
Yup, I've read about this too, so it's likely that many of these stories being told on this board are not 100% accurate. As I recall, your emotional attachment to the event alters your ability to remember it with accuracy. I remember not finding out until I got to school that day (junior high) and didn't fully comprehend the impact of what happened.
As for 20 years later, I think the actual safety of air travel from a terrorism standpoint wouldn't be too much different if 9/11 had not occurred. Many of the things we do today are just security theater (shoes off, limits on liquids/gels, etc.)
__________________
Much like a sports ticker, you may feel obligated to read this
Yup, I've read about this too, so it's likely that many of these stories being told on this board are not 100% accurate. As I recall, your emotional attachment to the event alters your ability to remember it with accuracy. I remember not finding out until I got to school that day (junior high) and didn't fully comprehend the impact of what happened...
Exactly.
I think we have some clear cases of constructed memories here in this thread. For example, someone mentioned watching coverage at home after the N. Tower had been hit, and then was at work and saw the S. Tower hit live. The first tower was hit @ 0846 and the second @ 0903. It's possible if one lived really close to work to have seen coverage before, and watched the second one live, but I would rather guess that this is a constructed memory.
In another example, a poster claims that a coworker told him about the Pentagon attack, and then he says he saw the second plane hit on the news. This could have only happened if he was watching a replay of the events (I think this is most likely), since the Pentagon attack did not occur until after the S. Tower hit.
To be clear here, I am not suggesting that anyone here is making up stories. I am certain that everyone's memories of that day are as clear and vivid as when it happened. But this is something that we all do. Our memories are incredibly flawed, and our brain is extremely good at compensating for the gaps. So much so that we are able to convince ourselves of things that never happened, or an order of things that happened out of their actual sequence, and in such a fashion that we simply cannot tell the difference between what was constructed and what was a "genuine" memory.
All in all, I find it incredibly fascinating.
__________________
Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
Oh, I'm absolutely certain I never saw the second plane hit. I'm just not certain where I was exactly when the second plane hit. I do remember my coworker exclaiming that it was a terrorist attack.
I did actually live really close to work at the time.
__________________
If you don't pass this sig to ten of your friends, you will become an Oilers fan.
The Following User Says Thank You to Shazam For This Useful Post:
At the time I was living in Kelowna, had just started college at OUC, working part time as a ground handler at the airport. The week prior I had finished my private pilots licence as well.
I used to sleep with the radio on and subconsciously heard about the first plane hitting the tower. I dreamt/imagined that it was a small aircraft that got seriously lost or had a major malfunction.
I didn’t fully wake up until after United 175 hit the south tower. I watched in horror the next hour or so unfold on TV like so many others. Watched the towers collapse, United 93 crash, then I went to school.
I think I only lasted through 2 classes before I left. I just couldn’t sit through a history class about something 200 years ago when a major event was happening that day. I wanted to be with friends and other in the industry.
I decided to head to the airport to see if I could help at all. I remember the airport being very quiet. I don’t think any passengers were inside as everything had been cancelled by then. I remember there being someone checking ID before I could go airside. That had never happened before. It was odd to see the Air Canada flight we had unloaded and cleaned the night prior still sitting on the gate along with a couple of other planes.
The next few hours were spent mostly watching TV in the empty boarding lounge. At one point we were told that YVR and Abbotsford were full and we might be getting some diversions into Kelowna. That never happened. We had no arrivals that day. There was lots of conflicting info that day.
In the afternoon when it was clear that we wouldn’t be needed, a group of us went to our local pub until closing. We talked about what has just happened and how the world was going to change.
It was very strange over the next few days not seeing or hearing any planes. No contrails. Seeing planes not move for days.
I think for a lot of us that were and still are part of the airline industry it was hugely disappointing that something most of us loved and had pride in was used for such a heinous act. Although we compete with each other we’re a big family and it was awful to lose so many colleagues that day.
A day that will forever be engrained in our memories, I think it'll be one of those rare days where we all remember exactly what we were doing when it unfolded.
Its definitely the first world changing event that I went through as a child.
If anyone has Disney+ I highly recommend the 9/11 Documentary they have on it. The first episode hit me like a ton of bricks - grab a box of kleenex.
Seen the full 6-part documentary the other day. So captivating, emotionally, mentally, and psychologically. It's an absolute must watch.
I think it's safe to say that September 11, 2001, showcased both the absolute worst, and the absolute best, that humanity has to offer.
The Following User Says Thank You to Mathgod For This Useful Post:
Oh, I'm absolutely certain I never saw the second plane hit. I'm just not certain where I was exactly when the second plane hit. I do remember my coworker exclaiming that it was a terrorist attack.
I did actually live really close to work at the time.
(BTW, I didn't mean to call you out. I am just really interested in how we construct our own memories.)
__________________
Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
I can remember waking up and turning CNN on around 8am Pacific time and watching the first tower, I had the front door open as it was a relatively pleasant day and when the second plane hit the shouts from along my street sounded like a goal had been scored in a hockey game, it was weird to hear it expressed that way, I then went downstairs and told my two teenage foster sons they should come and watch as we were going to war, they thought I had gone mad until they got upstairs and saw the TV and I explained the US was going to war with someone and Canada would be going too, I wasnt far wrong in retrospect
I'm on episode 3 of that Nat Geo documentary and yeah, it's a heavy, tough watch. But it's also a really important watch. It's easy to remember the towers burning and the enormity of what happened, along with the years long fallout but it's the individual stories that are so important. Those are the ones I'm most invested in now. I love how that documentary doesn't have a cheesy narrator, or a grave, dramatic soundtrack. It's horrific just showing it how it happened, and it's so effective in pulling you into it.
Also worth keeping in mind how abysmally the first responders have been treated since then. This is another video worth watching (again) and a topic worth reflecting on in the next few days.
Incredibly powerful soliloquy by Jon Stewart...Absolutely worth watching him call out the government for dragging their feet. Thanks for posting it.
The Following User Says Thank You to oldschoolcalgary For This Useful Post:
I can remember waking up and turning CNN on around 8am Pacific time and watching the first tower, I had the front door open as it was a relatively pleasant day and when the second plane hit the shouts from along my street sounded like a goal had been scored in a hockey game, it was weird to hear it expressed that way, I then went downstairs and told my two teenage foster sons they should come and watch as we were going to war, they thought I had gone mad until they got upstairs and saw the TV and I explained the US was going to war with someone and Canada would be going too, I wasnt far wrong in retrospect
The second plane hit the tower at 6:03 am pacific time…
The second plane hit the tower at 6:03 am pacific time…
It may have been a rerun and we were all just waking up, I just remember watching the footage of it hitting and hearing people up the street sort of cheershouting at the same time
The other thing I remember was Vancouver Airport a few days later, planes everywhere, hundreds of them, on the grass on the runways there wasnt a square inch of space it seemed
I was heading to BCIT for classes in the morning after picking up a buddy, but we were listening to music and not the radio so had no idea what had happened until we arrived on campus. I recall spending that evening watching video clips of the events at home but I feel like YouTube wasn't around yet and wonder if I watched the clips on the media company at the time, RealPlayer.
