Tomorrow is the 7th anniversary of 9/11. Do you remember what you were doing?
By sumpter
@sumpter (214)
United States
September 10, 2008 8:26pm CST
I know that this was a horrific experience for the whole country. For me, talking and writing which I do best eases my tension and makes it easier to cope. Please I look forward to the many stories that I hope people would post.
As a native of NYC, I can remember exactly what I was doing that tragic day. I was in Physics class, and I just remember hearing blaring sirens outside. I went to school right on the FDR drive in NY, so there were always cars and trucks passing. However, the sirens never stopped. They kept coming and coming and I knew something had to be terribly wrong. A kid in my class had a handheld radio and he was listening and letting everyone around him hear. They said that the Twin Towers were hit by a plane.
At first, we all thought it was an accident. No on thought it was a terrorist attack, after all what was that. We had not experienced something like that before. Next thing, I heard our loud speaker going off, and the principal had said that school was cancelled. Parents were called, for those whose service could get through. (The Towers were a main hub for cell phone signals and TV). We were told that we had to stay in school until a family member came to pick us up. I lived in the Bronx, and at that time the bridges out of Manhattan were closed to automotive traffic. The trains cancelled for a period of time, and buses took on the job of bringing people out of lower manhattan.
I walked behind security and left school. I knew that I had to get home. I walked and walked and remember seeing streams of people walking up first avenue. Some of the people were covered in ash, but they kept walking; some had their heads down while other were smoking cigaretts. I joined the crowd and went home.
My mother wasn't able to come home at the time she normally would. She was a nurse and during this time, any type of medical care provider was needed. Just recentlty, she talked about her experience there and it how it still haunts her.
If you interested further in my story, please check out my blog at http://sumpter-masterplan.blogspot.com
1 person likes this
3 responses
@sk66rc (4250)
• United States
11 Sep 08
I was working at the time... I work at a retail store & I happened to be working at electronics & major appliances dept. at the time... I remember walking into my work, getting all the T.V.s on & as I turned about half the T.V.s in my dept. on, one of my co-workers that worked in different department running over to me & yelling at me to change the t.v. channels to a news... All the T.V.s are linked to one cable box so once I change the channel on that box, entire t.v. displays, all 47 t.v.s, would goto the same channel... I turned the channel just as the first tower was smoking... At first, I thought it was some sort of a joke... Then I saw it happen... 2nd plane crashing into the other tower... Store I worked in was attatched to the end of a pretty big mall... Usually, it's pretty busy by the time I walk into my department but that day, I could hear the pen drop, as everybody was glued to the tv... The store was pertty slow for the rest of the day, matter in fact, I only saw 2 customers for my entire shift & the guy I work with in the same department told me the next day that he only had 1 customer for the rest of the night, which I can understand... I remember just walking around somewhat dazed & couldn't believe it actually happened... My uncle, on my mom's side, is an investment banker & he worked in NY, though not in those buildings but not too far from it... He even recalls sound of both planes flying by his building... He was haunted for years after that & still is bothered every time he thinks of that day...
1 person likes this
@sumpter (214)
• United States
11 Sep 08
I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I can just picture myself there you know and seeing the expression on people's faces and the sounds we heard. I cannot imagine what it sounded like when the plane went into the first tower.
1 person likes this
@celticrogue (450)
• United States
11 Sep 08
I was working in a rural community hospital in Iowa. On 9/11, I was talking to the hospital administrator, telling her that I needed the day off to be with my dad, who was in his final 24 hours of life. She had her office TV on NBC and we watched as the second plane hit. Everyone in our small hospital went on with our jobs, with many small breaks to catch up on what was happening on the east coast.
Mid-morning I left to be with family. My dad expired that night, at about 2:30 a.m. on 9/12.
What I remember most is that weeks later, when the flights resumed, driving to work, seeing the contrails of the jetliners again in the sky. It signaled to me that life was getting back to whatever was going to be 'normal' or 'routine' and that life goes on.
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
11 Sep 08
I remember exactly what I was doing. I was starting a course at the local college, and my mother was out buying a new coffee maker. My prof was called out for a phone call, and she told us all about it, when she came back in.
My mother was heading for the coffee makers in Zellers, but got blocked in electronics, because of the people rushing towards the TVs, to see what was going on.
