Yeah, I remember. I was getting ready for work, running a bit late. Sat down on the couch to put my shoes on; flipped on the TV. Our cockatiel, Cheerio, perched on my knee.
The TV was showing the first tower smoking. The commentator was speculating about terrorism or accident while I shoved one foot into a shoe.
As I watched, a second plane entered the frame and flew into the other tower. That instantly settled the newspeoples’ questions about the cause.
That morning was the longest I’ve ever worn just one shoe.
I knew exactly… mostly because I’d been out of town and got back on Monday evening, and had that day off for a job interview. For whatever reason, I remember that it was a Tuesday very clearly.
I also remember that I was asleep when it happened, and that a friend called me totally frantic right at about the time the second plane hit.
Tuesday, and I knew it right away. For some reason it has stuck in my head.
I was temping at RPI - a local college. The first plane had already hit when I heard a commotion. I either came out or was called out and saw everyone standing around a big screen TV watching the news, as the second plane hit.
It was a Tuesday. Didn’t need to look it up, but I could’ve done calendar math to figure it out if I didn’t know off the top of my head.
It’s on a Friday this year, and it’s 14 years (including 3 leap years) since 2001, so it’s moved 14+3=17 days through the week, and the 14 days just get you back to the day of the week where you started, so it’s 3 days later in the week this year than it was in 2001. So it was on a Tuesday then.
But I didn’t need to do that; I remembered. I did the calendar math because I like doing calendar math. I’m geeky like that.
Since I was sitting at my desk in the Pentagon when it happened and all the sealed windows suddenly flew open and a few hundred people starting screaming, yeah I remember.
I guessed the day wrong. What was I doing? Taking the ISTEP (an Indiana standardized test) and an announcement came over the intercom saying “Just so you all know, it is true that a plane struck the tower…” and explained it a bit.
My first thought was “What are you talking about?”. I was so confused over the message and enthralled in my test that I just kinda blew it off. A girl I was kinda friends with, named Sarah, came into school late that day and told us about watching everything happen on tv.
As I left for work that morning, the janitor in the building where I live in Panama told me some big building in New York was on fire, but couldn’t tell me what building or any details. I started to suspect something big was up when I drove past the US embassy and it was surrounded by heavy security.
When I got in to work, I found everyone crowded into a room behind the receptionist’s desk watching it on TV. Since my brother had been working at WTC 7 earlier in the year, I immediately tried to call New York. Of course, I couldn’t get through. I finally reached my sister-in-law who lived outside the city who told me he was alright. (His office had moved, but he still worked nearby. He came out of the WTC subway stop just after the first plane hit, but before the second, when people still thought it might be an accident.)
I remembered wrong. I knew it was middle of the week, as I had the day off from working over the weekend. Was watching the Weather Channel when they made mention of it, flipped to CNN and saw the second plane hit.
Called into work to see if I needed to come in, but they didn’t need me. Friends who were on duty flew one of our C-130s up that afternoon to drop off a communications van, since there was a need for it. They both said it was the eeriest flight they had been on, since they were the only planes in the air for miles so not much traffic on the ATC channels.
Of course I can. Tuesday. Being in NYC it’d be hard not to. And I sure remember where I was since I felt the reverberations of the first plane hit all the way in my dorm room. I thought a car had crashed into our building until I looked out the window.
Yes, I remember it was Tuesday. I was working as an insurance agent in a very small office, just my boss and me. Tuesdays were his golf days. He left me sitting there alone crying after the first tower had just fallen, and went to play golf.
I couldn’t understand how people were continuing to call for insurance quotes. Didn’t they realize the scale of what just happened? I was so upset that I couldn’t work, so I locked the door, and went home. My boss never mentioned me leaving, but I quit the next month.
Yes, I remember it was Tuesday. I was working as an insurance agent in a very small office, just my boss and me. Tuesdays were his golf days. He left me sitting there alone crying after the first tower had just fallen, and went to play golf.
I couldn’t understand how people were continuing to call for insurance quotes, just going on with their lives, like it was nothing. Didn’t they realize the scale of what just happened? I was so upset that I couldn’t work, so I locked the door, and went home. My boss never mentioned me leaving, but I quit the next month.
I knew the answer immediately. I’ll never forget that day.
I was in school (junior college) when it happened. Classes were cancelled in the middle of the day and everyone went home.
I was at work that morning, giving a benefits enrollment presentation which we always did on a certain day of the week to accommodate schedules, so I remember exactly what day of the week it was.
I was at work. Around 3PM our time, a colleague from the office went around saying that he had heard on the radio that a plane had hit the WTC in New York.
After a short while it became clear that what was happening was a world-shaking event. Along with many other people, I left the office and went home, feeling queasy. I got home in time to see the first tower collapse on TV. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV.
