Remembering September 11

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

I was on the phone with a co-worker who had just returned from a vacation to NY with the obligatory "I Love NY" t-shirt and pictures of him and his daughter on top of the WTC.  It hit him pretty hard.
 

On a side note. Did anyone beside me notice on the Wikipedia page that they only list famous people who were born (or died) on September 11th?
 
Whasssupwidddat?
 
 

I was in, of all places, Saudi Arabia. I think its worth noting that the majority of the Saudis I was in contact with at the time were as shocked and horrified as the rest of us,

craigb
Funny?  Hmm...  Didn't look at it that way.

 
Uh Oh. Since I thought it was funny I may be the one who crossed the line.
 
I'll get me coat.
 
Meet me in the FSF?

My cousin normally flew flight 51 (as a stewardess). She had back trouble that week and could not get into work.
 
You never know when having health troubles can be best for your overall health state.
 

I was living in Burbank at the time (at work), and my wife had received a call from Sri Lanka asking if we were all right (they weren't sure which state this had taken place in).....as like everyone else, we were in utter disbelief that such a horrific thing could happen.

I was teaching a morning chemistry recitation.  When the class ended I walked out of the building where one of my students who had not attended class started yelling at me that all hell was breaking loose in NY.  When I got to my office, one of the other faculty was running around yelling that we were under attack … it was mid-morning so I am not quite sure of the timing of everything but I think that was when the second plane hit.  From there, I went over to the student center on Busch campus (Rutgers) and watched the whole thing unfold on the big screen TV they had there.
 
As a child I grew-up in a suburb not far from the meadowlands that overlooks the NY skyline and I even have memories of the WTC before it was finished.

It's weird but I even kinda forgot it was Sept 11 until about an hour ago when I walked outside of my apartment and immediately saw the blue beams of light in the sky. 
 
They're definitely making less and less of a deal of it every year here in New York. I remember 10 years ago, the anniversary was quite an event in terms of the amount of TV and news coverage it got. Now, they report the ceremony and that's about it. 
 
I'll never forget the day because I was back in England and had decided to go for a swim in the afternoon (5hrs ahead of NYC time). The pool was completely empty and I couldn't believe my luck. I had the whole place to myself and had the most relaxing swim ever. Little did I know that everyone was glued to their TV screens and it was all happening when I was in there. Still makes me feel weird to think that while I was floating on my back in bliss, others were involved in this most epic struggle for their lives. 
 
I didn't even know what happened until I got home. I turned on the TV just in time to see a replay of the first tower falling. My immediate reaction was "Holy crap, they demolished the World Trade Center? What the hell did they do that for, it was a perfectly good building!" Then of course they replayed the planes hitting and it all hit me so hard I wanted to kick the TV in. 
 
After hours of sat in front of the screen absolutely horrified, I went over to a friend's house. A few friends were there. They were your 'right on' types, and one of them said "I'm just glad someone's shown those capitalist b*stards that they're not invincible." Pretty horrible thing to say, huh? I think at that point I realized I didn't quite fit in. 

Dupe. How'd I do that??

I've posted here in years past my experiences on that day. It still seems like it wasn't very long ago. As a New Yorker for almost 25 years now, it still brings on strong emotions that can seem raw. Next week, I'll be spending 4 days in Manhattan. It'll be my first visit to the site since the Memorial was finished. In my past visits there, looking at the enormous holes where the towers stood, I still found myself feeling a rage against those responsible. Angry that they made me feel so helpless and afraid immediately after the attack.
 
Now that OBL is dead, and the Memorial site can be experienced, I'm hopeful those feelings will be replaced with something else.
 
Randy

Guitarhacker
The saddest part of this all to me is that some in this country have not yet learned the lesson of that day and continue on with heads buried in the proverbial sand. How ironic is it that we are now arming and supporting the very same group that did this to our countrymen and women?

Testify brother!!!