Where were you on 9/11?
Sep. 11th, 2009 11:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fantastic_jackieWhat's your story? Where were you 8 years ago? I know I remember in detail.
Reply in a comment or on your own journal. 10 minutes taking yourself back and remembering... it's surprisingly powerful.
I was a Sophomore in High School, 2nd Period - Band. We ambled in, having heard rumors in the halls through the passing period. Few people had been updated by their teachers, so actual information was sparse. Gathering our instruments, we were mostly silent, listening to the ones who had heard anything more about the Towers in New York. No one really believed they were passenger planes.
We waited for the announcements in our seats with a quiet murmur around while students attempted to convince the band director that something was happening and we needed to know. He assured us that it would be on the announcements if it was anything big, and so we waited. We never warmed up until after the announcements were past, but the announcements never came.
At this point, we began attempting to set up even one of the TVs we had there - a total of 4 in the Band Hall - but as none of them had antennas, all we could get was snow.
The band director went to his office and began printing off news updates from Yahoo: that was how we spent it. Every 5 minutes, a new update until finally the second tower had fallen. The other two crashes were reported. The slow realization that it was no accident. There were things that were reported in one update and retracted or questioned in the next. No estimates on casualties.
The announcements never came. We never played our instruments. Several students were picked up by their parents.
Third period rolled in, the halls eerily quiet - but not silent. The principal came on briefly: we had the option to leave if our parents so chose. We had a long moment of silence; a full two or three minutes - the longest I've ever experienced.
I stayed through school; I remember the fears of how large scale the attack was going to be, whether Texas would have been considered a target, and if it was, would Dallas be it or Houston or Austin or San Antonio? All after school activities were cancelled. I came home and didn't stop watching the TV for the next two days exempting when we attended the WBAP memorial gathering on 9/12. I watched until my parents demanded I turn it off.
Reply in a comment or on your own journal. 10 minutes taking yourself back and remembering... it's surprisingly powerful.
I was a Sophomore in High School, 2nd Period - Band. We ambled in, having heard rumors in the halls through the passing period. Few people had been updated by their teachers, so actual information was sparse. Gathering our instruments, we were mostly silent, listening to the ones who had heard anything more about the Towers in New York. No one really believed they were passenger planes.
We waited for the announcements in our seats with a quiet murmur around while students attempted to convince the band director that something was happening and we needed to know. He assured us that it would be on the announcements if it was anything big, and so we waited. We never warmed up until after the announcements were past, but the announcements never came.
At this point, we began attempting to set up even one of the TVs we had there - a total of 4 in the Band Hall - but as none of them had antennas, all we could get was snow.
The band director went to his office and began printing off news updates from Yahoo: that was how we spent it. Every 5 minutes, a new update until finally the second tower had fallen. The other two crashes were reported. The slow realization that it was no accident. There were things that were reported in one update and retracted or questioned in the next. No estimates on casualties.
The announcements never came. We never played our instruments. Several students were picked up by their parents.
Third period rolled in, the halls eerily quiet - but not silent. The principal came on briefly: we had the option to leave if our parents so chose. We had a long moment of silence; a full two or three minutes - the longest I've ever experienced.
I stayed through school; I remember the fears of how large scale the attack was going to be, whether Texas would have been considered a target, and if it was, would Dallas be it or Houston or Austin or San Antonio? All after school activities were cancelled. I came home and didn't stop watching the TV for the next two days exempting when we attended the WBAP memorial gathering on 9/12. I watched until my parents demanded I turn it off.
