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

Stephen · 11-09-2007 04:03PM

I was just getting on the bus home from my second day of first year in college when the bus driver asked me if I heard what was going on in the US. I hadn't and then he went on to tell me about it and I thought he was taking the piss.

Ruu_Old · 11-09-2007 04:10PM

Internet cafe in London, an eerie buzz about the place.

CarefulNow · 11-09-2007 04:17PM

4th class. Found out when I got home.

Goodshape · 11-09-2007 04:24PM

I was asleep in my bed at the time, enjoying my first September without school to goto (leaving cert the year before). House full of people and no one thought it important enough to wake me... still pretty annoyed at that. I totally missed all the 'live' coverage.

Got up later and wondered into the kitchen, turned on the PC and first news site I visited had the headline "AMERICA ATTACKED! TWIN TOWERS DESTROYED!". I honestly thought the website had been hacked.

rainbow kirby · 11-09-2007 04:27PM

6th year honours Irish class when it happened... teacher came in with a TV and none of us knew why. She said nothing, just put the TV on.

TwoShedsJackson · 11-09-2007 04:30PM

Benjamin Shallow Carpet wrote:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fvj6zdWLUuk
i feel physicaly sick after watching this!

The antidote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk

jobonar · 11-09-2007 04:30PM

Trying to stay awake in a double Maths class in the warmest class room ever! A teacher came in and told our teacher to tell us but he didn't. Didn't find out till i got home and turned on the telly

jobonar · 11-09-2007 04:37PM

TwoShedsJackson wrote:

The antidote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk

O i shouldn't have found that funny!

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4 · 11-09-2007 04:37PM

TwoShedsJackson wrote:

The antidote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk

class!!! i lol'd

Joliegood · 11-09-2007 04:43PM

At work having an arguement with a client who was refusing to pay for service over a disputed bill. Suddenly a load of people starting running towards the door. I told the client that there must be a fire in the building and I was going to hang up. My colleagues had of course ran over to the tv. Next day, I spoke with the same client and the difference was unreal, we both agreed to drop our differences.

Manic Moran · 11-09-2007 04:45PM

Asleep in bed in San Francisco. Got a call from my ex in Wexford, whose brother was flying NYC to SFO that day, I was due to pick him up.

"Oh, hi! Why are you calling?"
"Quick, What time is John's plane leaving?"
"Don't know. I'm picking him up at about 12:30"
"Well, what time would it be leaving?"
"Umm..." (Of course, still in complete ignorance as to the backstory) "Well, let's see.. Figure a 5 hour flying time, plus gate time, knock off thr three hour time zone difference... I figure somewhere around or just before 9am local. Why?" (Of course, the first plane hit just before 9am local)
"Have you not seen the news?"
"No, I've been asleep. It's 7am over here. I'm just about to get up"
"Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Centre. Turn on the news!"

So I turn on the news, and see a split-screen of the WTC smoking, and the Pentagon also burning. Total shock. I said something akin to "I think someone just declared war on the US". Just at that moment, the first tower collapsed.

I put a set of BDUs and a sidearm in the car, and went to work, fully expecting that that night I'd be on military duty preparing to go to war.
There was actually a surprisingly mild military reaction. I checked in with the Armoury, was told in effect to stand by to stand by. Quiet day in the office, a lot of people didn't go to work.

BTW, her brother wasn't on those 'planes. He was on the tarmac on JFK and saw the towers out the window.

NTM

Sleepy · 11-09-2007 04:51PM

Dropped into the local shop to buy cigarettes while waiting for the bus to college. The shopkeeper had one of those tiny handheld TV's and showed me the footage of the first plane hitting. We were half-joking about how the pilot was gonna explain that one to the boss (thinking it was a light aircraft at the time as Sky were reporting).

Got the bus into college and walked into the college bar just as the footage of the second plane hitting was being shown. There were a load of girls screaming right in front of the big-screen TV as the American exchange students were getting their orientation in UCG that day.

Spent the rest of the day divided between the computer and the TV trying to get details on what the hell was going on. I'll never forget one of the guys in college who we all just thought was the resident funny man saying 'no doubt about it, it's Bin Laden' to which we all responded 'Who?'. Was funny because until then, none of us had realised that the guy was really smart, believe he got a first in his degree despite being one of the most heavily active people in societies on campus.

ciano1 · 11-09-2007 04:52PM

my aunt was working in one of the smaller buildings beside the wtc and was late for the manhattan boat that morning

faceman · 11-09-2007 04:53PM

i was in the office working and one of the girls in the office came runnin up the office saying that "a plane crashed into the twin towers". He sat down n continued to work [she thought it was an accident]

I continued to work as i thought it was an accident too.... 10 mins later there was no one in the office at their desk. We were all in the kitchen area watchin the tv.

I dont mean this in a negative way but i remember at the time thinkin if omagh got the same response from people. (before i realised the gravity of the situation)

btw, anyone see the thing on the telly last nite about the 9/11 millionaire widows? Fireman and policemen ditched their wives and ran off with their mate's widows who got massive compensation payouts. Sick stuff.

Hypnotoad · 11-09-2007 05:21PM

I was at home sick from school.Watching the news about some weather thing when it went straight into the story as breaking news.Then watched the second plane hit live on air.I watched the news for the whole day.

biko · 11-09-2007 05:23PM

Working I guess, was it a week day?

Binomate · 11-09-2007 05:26PM

TwoShedsJackson wrote:

The antidote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AYujWCCHRk

You know what the funniest thing about that video is?

It was made by a Something Awful member on 9/11/01. The very same day of the attacks. Truly epic lulz.

zuutroy · 11-09-2007 05:30PM

In Toronto heading to work. Heard it on Howard Stern. Got the day off...yay

Sniipe · 11-09-2007 05:33PM

Wossack wrote:

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

same for me; I was in Chicago and was ment to fly home the next day. My flight was delayed by over a week. I was at work in Chicago in a law firm and we all crowded around a TV and some guy was in bits as a relative of his was actually in the WTC.

Lazare · 11-09-2007 05:37PM

Myself and the girlfriend (wife now) were in NY. We were in the towers about 12 hours previous. We got up that morning and were heading to catch a bus into Manhattan when we had to turn back. Our plan that day was to go to the Natural History museum in the morning and the observation floor of the WTC in the afternoon. We're pretty lucky they chose the morning time to do it.
I took some photos of the towers the night before, probably one of the last tourist photo's taken of them.

We went down to lower Manhattan on the 13th to within a couple of blocks of ground zero and watched the rescue crews at work. Surreal.

Coming home, we were on the first flight back to Ireland on the Saturday, we had to queue for about three hours at three seperate security checks in JFK, while they searched and double searched everyone, then eventually got on the Aer Lingus flight, where on board you could buy a manicure set complete with scissors and sharp nail files, I lol'd.

tolosenc · 11-09-2007 06:25PM

I was on United 93 a couple of weeks beforehand. Was in school when it happened, but didn't hear till I got in.

dr strangelove · 11-09-2007 06:27PM

I was working on the help desk at Compaq, a large open plan office and you could hear the murmur work it's way along the office. Then everyone tried to check out Sky, RTE or BBC websites. The interweb was phenomenally slow so we only got bits and pieces of information until someone turned on a radio.

The thing i remember most was one of the managers stalking between the desks saying "just because a plane had crashed in America, don't forget we still have to help out customers" and trying to break up groups of people round the few PCs with working internet connections. There were no calls, the phones had stopped ringing.

Dudess · 11-09-2007 06:28PM

I was in my parents' house, on my ass in my pyjamas, eating cornflakes and flicking around the TV stations. Briefly couldn't understand why the same film was being shown simultaneously on a number of channels - including channels that don't show movies.
I was on a week off and about to start college the following week.

mental07 · 11-09-2007 06:39PM

At home reading the newspaper. Had neither TV nor radio on, which was very very rare. Only heard about it when my dad came home and told me to switch on the TV - the 2nd plane had just hit.

Like everyone else, I was glued to the TV for the rest of the day.

Anto McC · 11-09-2007 06:46PM

I worked delivering wine at the time, i was on my way to Gorey and was listening to Gerry Ryan when he broke the news. I should've been in school that day. I didn't actually get to see any footage of the incident untill about 9pm that night, which was wehn i finished.

The Hill Billy · 11-09-2007 06:48PM

I was in work - just came back after lunch & logged onto cnn.com.
Read that a plane had flown into one of the WTC buildings.
Thought - Christ that's a nasty accident!
Got on with some more work & logged back on 30 mins later to see what was happening.
Read that a second plane flew into the other WTC tower.
Thought - FFS! 2 plans crashing into the Twin Towers within such a short space of time - now that's just careless!

May they all rest in peace - apart from those lunatics who made it happen.
May they burn in hell.

Mental Mickey · 11-09-2007 06:48PM

I was in work, watching it on our TVs in the canteen. I couldn't believe what I was seeing!!!!:eek:

Thought it was something straight out of Hollywood...?

Pepe LeFrits · 11-09-2007 06:52PM

In a netcafe working. I don't really recall much about it to be honest; the significance of it didn't really register at the time.

July 7 was much more real for me.

Jello · 11-09-2007 06:56PM

Was in school (5th class) when the teacher came in and told us to ''bow your heads and pray for America''. We all looked at each other wondering wtf she was on about. Then got home and saw the TV.
Remember it well actually.

qwytre · 11-09-2007 07:28PM

I had just finished college that May and took the summer off. I was 23 and that september I decided to start looking of a job in IT.

I got my first interview with a company based in Blanchardstown and had made the drive up from Galway that morning for the interview. The IT industry wasn't great at the time due to the dot.com crash and all that so I was desperate to get any kind of IT job really. Fixing my tie in the car just before the interview I heard on the radio about the first plane crashing, the speculation was that an airplane somehow went off course, no one on the radio suggested terrorism at that stage.

Then just as I was getting out of the car to walk in I heard about the second plane. I was just thinking what the hell is going on but the enormity of what was happening was secondary to my interview. I remember it was a nice summers day in Dublin and going into the interview I dont think anyone heard about what had happended, or at least no one was talking about it as I walked through the offices. Myself and the interviewer spoke for about an hour with no idea that one of the greatest (I dont mean that in a glorious type of way) historical events of our time was unfolding.

I didnt get that job. But I got one about a week later, thankful for it.

I never get tired of watching those images of the planes crashing, I can never get my head around it.

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

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