6 years ago today (11th) - Where were you?

darkman2

I suppose we're all going to be fed up hearing about it by the end of the day but inevitably the tv stations will have loads of programs about '9/11' tonight. But I was wondering do you all remember were you were and how you heard about it? I remember I was in school and the way the teacher said it - it would give you the impression the US was being invaded or something - total nonsense of course - oh and then the joy of having to listen to Joe Duffy on the way home :rolleyes: Are people going a bit OTT by even remembering were they were at the time of these big events? I mean its not like man had landed on the moon or anything.......or was it simply a fascination amongst people about the appocalytic nature of it? It was certainly very hard to get into perspective on that day what had happened as it was simply too big an event......all our problems certainly paled into such petty insignificance.


Anyway do you remember how you heard about it?

Tar.Aldarion

Secondary school, technical drawing class.

Huggles

darkman2 wrote:

I suppose we're all going to be fed up hearing about it by the end of the day but inevitably the tv stations will have loads of programs about '9/11' tonight. But I was wondering do you all remember were you were and how you heard about it? I remember I was in school and the way the teacher said it - it would give you the impression the US was being invaded or something - total nonsense of course - oh and then the joy of having to listen to Joe Duffy on the way home :rolleyes: Are people going a bit OTT by even remembering were they were at the time of these big events? I mean its not like man had landed on the moon or anything.......or was it simply a fascination amongst people about the appocalytic nature of it? It was certainly very hard to get into perspective on that day what had happened as it was simply too big an event......all our problems certainly paled into such petty insignificance.


Anyway do you remember how you heard about it?

I was waking up in a Hostel in Washington DC, World War 3 going on outside and all around me in the room.

Sparky

In the toilet

Doctor DooM

I was trying to set up a new computer in my parents house and couldnt figure out why the internet had slowed to a crawl. I thought it had something to do with the new comp... was swearing alot that day. Was kinda shocked when I saw it, as I recall.

tbh

darkman2 wrote:

It was certainly very hard to get into perspective on that day what had happened as it was simply too big an event......all our problems certainly paled into such

I tell you what, you're right there. To me, looking at it on TV was no different to watching a movie, it didn't feel anymore real than that. I have no concept of 5,000 people, 500 people etc. I was at home on a day off, actually watching Sky news when the second plane went in. I thought that they were replaying the first crash, and was wondering what the hell was going on.

Crucifix

I was in (secondary) school, and I have witnesss to corroborate this alibi!

Ahem, a friend who wasn't in texted me about it when it happened.

prendy

i think its one of those things most people will always remember where they were and what they were doing..
I just happened to be in a pub after school while waitin for the bus home....i remember the pub was wedged with people staring at the images.

neacy69

I was at home in bed missing another days at college when my mam woke me and told me to turn on the TV crazy stuff

_blank_

Omg Turn On The News

Zapp Brannigan

Was walking home from school and a neighbour I saw along the way told me about it.

I thought it was aliens. Man was I disappointed!

eamoss

2nd year in school but our school didnt tell us. Didnt find out till I was walkin home.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

i was in 2nd year french class when i heard about it. didnt believe it at first.

captainautumn

I was in bed resting off from night-shift, in that half-way house of being neither fully awake nor fully asleep when I suddenly got this strong compulsion to turn on the radio. I never listen to daytime radio so I often wonder why did I turn it on THAT day... The very first thing I heard was a girl saying that 'a second plane has hit the World Trade Centre, so the first plane to hit was not an accident.'
Not being able to make sense of this I walked into the kitchen to find my wife transfixed in front of the television. She greeted my with the immortal line that 'they inturupted Neighbours with this Newsflash.....'
Little did I know at the time I was looking at the US administration's excuse to bring their terror to the Middle East for the next ten years.

Wossack

DesF wrote:

Omg Turn On The News

yikes, pretty harrowing thread bringing back some memories...

personally I was in cancun on my leaving cert holiday when one my mates' brother texts him to say 'turn on the news, new york is on fire'

fun, as we were flying home, I think, about 22hrs later

_blank_

I was in work in a shop that sold loads of tellies.

One of the other workers got a phone call and was told to turn on Sky News.

We turned on Sky News.

Saw the two towers falling live on tv.

Did no work that day, just sat in front of the tellies watching.

The_B_Man

jsut started first year of college. was in me digs for lunch. mental shtuff alright! we were all so naive back then.....awwwwwww!

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Zapp Brannigan wrote:

I thought it was aliens. Man was I disappointed!

this might cheer you up:p
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PcX0V-_b_V8

Terry

On the grassy knoll

Sheeting a floor in Clondalkin.
Got home in time to catch the second plane crash.

SingingCherry

Was fast asleep in my bed at university upstate new york about 3 hours north of NYC. Got a call from my housemate's mother crying and telling me "they" bombed the WTC. I couldn't understand what she was talking about and my head was so muddled with sleep I was so confused. Then I turned on the news right after the second plane hit. Madness. I called my mom in NYC, cried a lot and then just watched the news for the next 18 hours while calling and trying to get in touch with people.

Reading that thread from six years ago is incredible. People first reactions are so interesting to read but it's just so upsetting, even six years later.

thefinalstage

In school. I came home and asked my mam what movie she was watching.

keen

In secondary school bored out of my tree.

watna

I was in R.E class in 6th year in school, my extremely annoying teacher told us with this wierd smug smile on his face. I just think he was enjoying the drama of telling us all. Then I remember getting the school bus home and everyone being silent and listening to the news. My friend kept saying it's world war 3 over and over again. Then all i did was watch the news all night and then next day nobody had their homework done, and all the teachers said if you were anything like me you were glued to the tv last night so i don't expect homework to be done. I just remember thinking this is like a movie... what the hell is going on!

Spud83

It was the last day for paying college reg fees so I was on my way back from that. Walked into the house and my brother just said America is being bombed, turned on the news and saw the first tower on fire this was before anybody knew it was a plane and I just kinda turned it off. Went to the pub to play snooker by the time we got there a lot more was known then. We just sat there played some snooker drank a bit while keeping an eye on the tv. Looking back it seems like I half ignored one of the biggest events to happen in my lifetime.

TPD

first year of secondary school, only found out after getting home. ww3 predictions abound the next day.

darkman2

DesF wrote:

Omg Turn On The News

wow! lol @ the amount of mis-information in that thread:

Hobbes: Car bomb has just exploded outside the Pentagon now.

Draco: There are now reports that a total of 8 planes were hijacked.
F UCK

The media were all over the place reporting that day. Some of the speculation was incredible and unhelpful. I remember gems like 'car bomb at Capitol Hill'.....

patrickolee

DesF wrote:

Omg Turn On The News

Lol, it's surreal reading over the old thread. Best bit has to be Victor's

"If one of the towers has collapsed, we are talking about 20,000 dead. Several hundred of those will have been Irish." and the ensuing reaction of the great unwashed.

Oh and I was at work, in a Jewish investment bank at the time.

dlofnep

In bed. Mother woke me up and told me New York had been nuked. No kidding.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

We had this discussion in the pub recently, one of my mates was rubbing one out when he found out... He finished off and turned on the T.V.

Raekwon

I was on a bus from St. Louis to Kansas City. It was my first time visiting American and me and may mates were there for a two week trip, going from Chicago - Los Angeles via Route 66. Talk about bad timing!

Pompey Magnus

I was at home that day, turned on the TV and happened across the Breaking News. I was hooked for the rest of the day.

By the way, how is it that the thread about September 11th posted above, a day when thousands of innocent people died, possibly a turning point in global politics and the relationship between the West and the Middle East, has 7 pages of posts, whilst the Madeline McCann thread is up to 64 pages and still going strong .

missmatty

In college doing one of the big experiment days for my Masters (lots of work). We went for tea at 4pm and the department was deserted, everyone was in the pav watching the big screen.......

prendy

OMG its so weird reading that thread from 6 years ago....talk about bringing the confusion of the situation back.

Anti

Jasus, its been 6 years already... How time flys.. Anyway.. I was working in the stores setting up SAP. I remember it came on the radio on 2fm i think. And i thought it was some type of joke. Went into the canteen just as the second plane hit the second tower. Then spent the next few days glued to sky news.

ekevosu

Was working in boston. When I got an email from a friend about a plane hitting the wtc I thought they were talking about the wtc in boston as I knew people working there and thought they were messing. It soon dawned on me when people in the office got up from their desks and started talking about it. Everyone was sent home straight away. Spent the day at home with the housemates (all sent home) just watching the tv.

As someone eluded to earlier on, it was definetely our generations JFK.

ixoy

Far too many of ye were in school.. bleedin' youngsters...

Anyways, I was gainfully unemployed at the time and switched to read teletext. Saw a report of a plane hitting one of the towers but no newscast interruption (as of yet). Switched to Sky News, which were alone in covering it at the time. The reporters in their helicopter were commenting that it was perhaps a small glider plane where the pilot had been blinded by the sun. A minute or two after they said that, the second plane hit and the reports were left sort of stumbling over their words, in obvious shock. I spent the rest of the day watching the news.

It did make an interesting conversational piece for an interview next day, although not enough to get me the job..

Voodu Child

I was at home that day, I think someone rang me and told me to put on the news. I turned it on before the second plane hit, so saw all that stuff as it unfolded.

Im tempted to use the words 'highly entertaining' to describe the day, but 'gripping' is probably a more respectful term...:o

Ciaran500

Depeche_Mode wrote:

By the way, how is it that the thread about September 11th posted above, a day when thousands of innocent people died, possibly a turning point in global politics and the relationship between the West and the Middle East, has 7 pages of posts, whilst the Madeline McCann thread is up to 64 pages and still going strong .

It was locked so there was either a second thread in AH or there was already a thread in News & Media so they moved over to that.

Gillie

Cycling back to work (HSE) from home and I was running late.
I had a small radio and was listening to 2fm (i think).
The news came on at two and there was nothing. But a few minutes later the DJ said that a plane had hit one of the towers. Assumed it was a small plane etc...
Got to work and the lads in the Comp room said the internet had grinded to a halt. Went over to A&E where there was a TV and watched the drama unfold.

Surreal stuff! Never forget it.

chopperbyrne

I was unemployed at the time and my brother was out of work with a broken leg. Watching the second plane hit live was surreal.

It's the most news I've ever watched in a single day and probably ever will again.

TV3 cancelled all their programming for the day and, in my opinion, had better coverage than Sky.

Definitely our JFK moment.

prendy

i think there are so few pages about it because:
1)everyone was watchin on tv
2)the internet crashed(nearly)
3)less people using this site

curiousxxx1

I was at Heathrow airport on my way to Dublin, it was the first time arriving Ireland. The airport was suddenly packed with Policemen from Scotland Yard and Army men. Security tightened and flights were delayed for more than 4 hours.... Heathrow airport was at a standstill, apparently some pilots refused to fly for fear of carrying a terrorist. It was an experience i would never forget.

big b

ixoy wrote:

Far too many of ye were in school.. bleedin' youngsters...

yep

I was on an oil rig in the North Sea, employed as helicopter co-ordinator for an American oil company.

After the initial shock, much discussion about whether we should continue flying operations.
A call from the states told us to carry on, but there were a few nervous flyers that day! No-one refused to fly with a couple of Arabic trainees who were due home that day, but they were closely watched!

layke

Working in a webhosting company.

There was no work done that day. It's like thewhole world stopped.

goose06

Sitting in a mates room playing Tekkan Tag, and winning, one of our housemates came in saying that America was being attacked

Leeby

Came home from school to find my brother and his girlfriend watching the tv, she was in absolute hysterics and I didn't know what was going on so I went into another room where my mum was watching it and she told me what was happening.

The reason my (now) sister in law was so upset is that her cousin was in there, he worked on one of the floors high up (I think) but still below where the plane crashed. He says everyone was told to stay where they were but he said no chance and legged it for the stairs, ran out of there, never looked back, he got out on to the street kept running, then the tower collapsed behind him.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

humanji

I was at home watching tv when there was a news flash. It really didn't hit home until I saw the second plane hit. It was really freaky.

One of my friends was an air traffic controller in Dublin airport at the time. He said he was watching the plane disappear off his radar screen and suddenly they started coming back. They hadn't a clue what was going on as all these other planes were heading for Dublin too.

Bendihorse

It was very surreal, i was in college in letterkenny but had finished for the day and went into the pub for a nice cool one on the way home...

Walked in to be greeted by errie silence and all eyes on the TV, i initially thought it was a movie or something after seeing the images but the barwoman told us that a plane had crashed in to the WTC - at that stage people thought it was an accident.

I sat down in amazement, ordered a pint bottle of bulmers, took a sip and watched as the second plane flew in. I got a sinking feeling to the pit of my stomach...
A similar feeling was felt again as i watched the almost live night footage of the first air strikes to take place in Iraq.

Spent the day in the pub watching from start to finish as the people jumped from the towers, and the collapse of tower 2, then tower 1... Something that ill never forget.

My sister was in the air flying from Heathrow to San Francisco, they were told the plane was being diverted due to a security incident in NYC, but were given no further information... Remember how all the flights were grounded and people ended up in random little airports all over USA...

I have a lot of memories from that day.

GhostInTheRuins

I was off sick from school that day. I was messing around on the pc when my mam came home from the shops and told me Joe Duffy was talking about a plane crashing into the WTC. Ran down and turned on the telly to see the second plane and the two towers falling.

My sister was in New York at the time and we couldn't get in contact with her for a few days. We were a bit worried tbh. It turns out her and her boyfriend went to some remote part of Mexico a few days previously and they couldn't get in contact with us and didn't even hear about the WTC until about a week after it happened.

Terry

Raekwon wrote:

I was on a bus from St. Louis to Kansas City. It was my first time visiting American and me and may mates were there for a two week trip, going from Chicago - Los Angeles via Route 66. Talk about bad timing!

They changed the name of the city of St. Louis to St. Freedom back in ought 2, because it was named after a French saint/ king.