In my car on my way to work. I thought it was a joke.
Cristin,
25
Frisco, TX USA
In school waiting for class to begin. My teacher was strangely missing. A tech guy came in the room and told us about it and how they were probably going to shut down the university for the day. I drove home listening to Howard Stern -- excellent coverage that I'll never forget.
Keri-Jade,
23
Brampton, Ontario CANADA
In class, but I thought the people who were talking about it were talking about a simulation in another class. Then I got to work and saw what was going on on a TV in the middle of the front office. Everything stopped at that moment. I felt sick. My friends and I went in the World Trade Center on a high school trip. The observation deck we once stood on was just gone. I couldn't believe it.
Karen,
23
Ames, IA USA
at work ... they had the tvs in the corridors tuned into a news channel. There were big crowds round them looking - We didn't know if it was real, it didn't seem it.
Alice
Cardiff, UK
At home just waking up.
Alias Irrelevante
Sitting at my computer at work.
Ryan,
29
Riedlingen GERMANY
At work when a colleague called us all to the kitchen to see the events on TV.
Felicia,
37
Lowell, MA USA
Due to the time difference I didn't hear about it until I got home from school. My brother was home watching it on TV, and he told me about it. I think the first thing I said was "Did anyone die?"
Aly,
17
Cardiff UK
We had just
moved to Silver Spring and decided to go back to our apartment complex
in Gaithersburg to see if we had any mail there. As we were driving along,
we turned on the radio and heard the LAST HALF of a news broadcast about
planes attacking New York and the
Pentagon. We had no idea what was going on and were afraid that the United
States was being attacked. I think the news at that time was over-exaggerating
what was happening because things weren't quite clear at first and Bill
and I were "scared shitless" (pardon the expression).
Reba,
57
Gaithersburg, MD USA
I had gone to work early. One of my employees hadn't shown up and when she called she said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. While I was talking to her the second one hit. I lived very close to the office, so I went home and turned on the TV. We were having the house painted at the time, so it was me and three painters glued to the TV. We brought a little TV into the office to watch the rest of the afternoon
Cindy,
41
VA USA
I was on the phone with my younger daughter. She called to see if I had heard about it. I had taken a vacation day to finish moving into my new house and didn't have a TV or a radio on.
Cathie,
53
Novi, MI USA
It happened very early in the morning west coast time. I was in my own living room, expecting to watch a little morning TV with my breakfast.
Jane,
63
West Linn, OR USA
I was in my husband's office listening to the radio as NPR first announced that one of the towers was on fire. I immediately stopped what I was doing and called my girlfriend who lives in the building next to the WTC to make sure she was OK. She was already at work midtown.
Laura,
38
Lowell, MA USA
I was at home. My roomate was the first to turn the T.V. on at 11:30 a.m. and that's when we both first found out about
Ashley,
20
Jacksonville, FL USA
I was sitting
in a doctor's waiting room. I could hardly believe the footage I was seeing
on the TV. It seemed so surreal, as if it were all a dream. At the time,
I thought that it was some sort of bizarre plane accident. The thought
that terrorists could do such a thing on United States soil was just unimaginable.
I left the doctors office still thinking it was a plane crash. I stopped
at a restaurant and overheard what was really happening...God...I can't
even describe my feelings of horror and sympathy to the victims and their
families. It really hit home, though, when it was announced that students
were being dismissed from school early because of the fear of
terrorism in MY OWN small community! I immediately dropped what I was
eating and rushed to the school to pick up my son.
Tam
I was at work
when a coworker approached me to tell me about the World Trade Center.
I was horrified yet at the same time relieved to know that a lifelong
friend of mine worked in the South Tower (which hadn't been struck yet).
I emailed her about 15 minutes later. It came back to me each of the five
times I tried to resend it. Another friend who worked in the lower half
of the north tower informed me that her company had just moved out of
the towers a few months
earlier. There is still a part of me that cannot fathom the magnitude
of the entire sequence of events that day.
Fisch,
47
Preston, CT USA
I had stayed after school and was at a Drama Club. Someone came back from the office talking about something they'd heard about the twin towers getting knocked over. I didn't understand what exactly that mean till I was home and watching it on the news. It was terrible.
Merve,
15
Turkey
I was on the Internet and saw a mention of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Then I moved into the kitchen to hear the radio updates.
Jill,
61
Saylorsburg, PA USA
I was at work in my cubicle. My wife called before the 2nd plane hit and said that a plane had hit a building in New York. I turned on my radio at my desk and the rock station I listen was just getting the news. They talked about it a bit and then they switched to a network feed when the 2nd plane hit. I was stunned. Needless to say, I didn't get much work done that day.
Doug2,
30
Kansas City, KS USA