Where were you?

30 Responses to “Where were you?”

I was working from home that morning. I was at the kitchen table with my laptop with the TV on watching the coverage. I eventually went in to the office and we could see smoke from the Pentagon from the office. Right after I got there corporate called and said they were closing all offices for the day and sent everybody home.



Posted by COD on September 11th, 2007 at 7:40 am

No way connected to the incident expect that we in India are part of the ramifications.
I was sleeping(night time in India) when, a friend of mine woke me up and broke the news to me. I just blasted at him!! asking him not to dream too much.!
It was only in the morning that, I realised it was me who was dreaming.



Posted by rAm on September 11th, 2007 at 7:45 am

I was Director of Web Sales and Online Marketing at Nextel. At 8:50 am, a woman on our team ran off the elevator onto our floor and started screaming about an explosion at TWC. All of the news sites were down. I then called my Dad in New Jersey who gave me an update - which was after the 2nd plane had hit the towers. We then heard on local radio about the Pentagon. We all crammed Nextel’s auditorium and watched as the South Tower fell. Panic started to grip the area as word got out of a 4th plane heading toward DC. We were all sent home shaking.



Posted by L Everling on September 11th, 2007 at 7:46 am

Thanks for this topic. Although the day itself was horrible, I find listening or reading stories about what people did on that day very helpful. I feel a shared bond with someone after we share our 9/11 stories. Telling my sorrow and fear and hearing someone else’s helps me to connect with them in a way that frequently I find difficult in the regular social discourse.
For a while I was even collecting these stories with an eye to starting a website where people would just post their experiences of the day. One friend who lives in Boston found out about it when she got a call from another friend living in Japan.
I had just dropped my son off at kindergarten — the second week at a new school. The night before my wife had flown out of Boston to Chicago for a conference. I turned on the radio and heard a brief mention about a plane hitting the towers. I figured it was some idiot in a Cessna and I turned on the TV for what I thought would be a quick look.
If anyone is interested I have a longer account of the whole day on my blog:
http://collateraldamage.wordpress.com/2007/09/11/10-memories-of-911/



Posted by Con von Hoffman on September 11th, 2007 at 8:23 am

I was just getting on a bus to the PATH Station (the train that would take me to the WTC) when the client that I was meeting called me to cancel. He had just watched (from Jersey City) a plane hit the first Tower. I got home to see the 2nd plane hit. It was unimaginable when the Towers fell (I was on the phone with another client who thought I was “hysterical”).
I worked downtown until the last few months and am so proud of how it’s been rebuilt.



Posted by Jane Quigley on September 11th, 2007 at 8:28 am

At work (www.terra.com) in Miami. Had televisions on, at first I thought it was a smaller plane that had hit, saw the second crash live.
Never felt like that before…



Posted by Felix Leander on September 11th, 2007 at 8:32 am

I was in Singapore. I still remembered, it happened at middle of the night (GMT +8) and I followed through the internet, CNN and local news channel about what happened the whole night till morning.



Posted by Ryan Lin on September 11th, 2007 at 8:36 am

My husband & I were in a Sears store in a mall watching it on big screens all around. There were about 8 of us gathered. The management came & said that they were turning them all off because it was ‘disruptive’. We thought it very un-American & disrespectful to censor breaking news.



Posted by Connie Bensen on September 11th, 2007 at 8:46 am

I was asleep in my freshman dorm room only five days into the semester. It was 6:00 a.m. when my mom called my cell phone to let me know what had happened. I wasn’t the first person to get the news.
My friend Tunji, who is Muslim, came into my room and held me while I cried and freaked out. Whenever I think of Muslims and 9-11, I think of Tunji’s compassion rather than the hijackers’ evil rage.



Posted by Teresa Valdez Klein on September 11th, 2007 at 9:05 am

I was working in Grand Rapids, MI. I remember someone said a plane hit one of the twin towers. I fired up CNN.com and watched the live video. Shortly after I called my wife and her sister was to have a Dr. appt. at one of the other buildings in the WTC around noon. We finally got a hold of her and she was OK.
My office was just north of the airport and while I was looking out the window, a 747 bound for China from Detroit Metro flew right by the window to land at the Grand Rapids airport. It was so close, it seemed I could touch it. That’s when I realized it was real.



Posted by Tom on September 11th, 2007 at 9:18 am

I was still in school at the time, so I woke up later than most people that day. When the alarm on my clock radio went off, they were talking about it on the radio. Since I was still half asleep, I thought that they were talking about a movie or something.
As I woke up a bit more, something told me that they weren’t talking about a new movie, and that I should go turn on the TV. Like everyone else, I was shocked, and couldn’t pull myself away from the TV. I saw the second tower collapse live, and truly didn’t know what to think.
Somehow, I managed to drag myself to school later that morning. For the first and only time during my 4 years at university, the TVs mounted in the ceiling of the student’s union building were turned on, and playing CNN.
I ran into an old friend from high school who, I think, had already started to get dirty looks from ignorant people (she’s Muslim), and we talked about what classes we had that semester, of all things. I think we just needed to get our minds off of what had happened.
I worked my part time job that evening, and didn’t really know what to do. Everyone at work was in shock. There weren’t very many customers in the store, but I remember one old man ripping into one of the women I worked with (who was also Muslim), as if she had personally been responsible for what had happened. This woman was one of the nicest people I have ever met, and handled the situation with amazing grace. I was impressed with how she handled it, and, obviously, upset by the old man’s ignorance (though, I wondered if I might not have felt the same way he did, had I not grown up in a neighborhood with a very large Muslim population).
It was a completely surreal day, as I’m sure it was for most people. But, instead of focusing on the horror and evil of it, I focus on the “good” that came of it. For all of the horror of that day, the way that the world responded really restored my faith in humanity. Whenever I think of 9/11, I try to think of the heroism and the goodness of humanity that came out on that day, rather than the act of evil that necessitated those acts of bravery.
Anyway…I could go on and on, but I really should get back to work.



Posted by Adam Snider on September 11th, 2007 at 9:28 am

Thank you all for sharing these stories, they’re all touching. For many, the world changed that day.



Posted by jeremiah_owyang on September 11th, 2007 at 9:57 am

We had just returned from IA the night before. I had just got out of the shower as my wife and two daughters turned on the TV to witness the second plane strike. It was surreal, I thought it was an advertisement at first for some movie.
I have many friends that work in NYC and many of them witnessed the intensity of the attacks firsthand. The impact is unexplainable. For me it was the second major strike for 2001 having had a friend die in my arms.
To me it not so much looking back. It is more a reflection of the past and what can be learned. Like history, you can learn from it, ignore it, or copy it, but never relive it and that can be a good thing.



Posted by Pete Giza on September 11th, 2007 at 10:36 am

I was working in Newton MA and was online when a Comcast “breaking news” alert came up…and I started shouting. Then the next tower, then DC. I worked with kids in the middle and high schools then, and I remember wondering just what the schools were going to say…



Posted by Meg on September 11th, 2007 at 10:42 am

P.S.
I also remember thinking, but we’re having a baby…due in October…the world can’t end.



Posted by Meg on September 11th, 2007 at 10:43 am

I was in high school at the time, sitting in my 2nd class of the day (Mr. Fisk’s Algebra II class…) and I will always remember that he walked in as calm as ever and just said,
“Well it seems that there is some sort of attack in New York, so we are going to turn on the news, but feel free to keep working if you want: quiz tomorrow!”
I just remember how he was so calm about it, like it was a weather update or something. Of course, being 16 at the time, most of us didn’t immediately appreciate the impact that this was about to have on our lives…reality started to set it later that day and the jokes and side conversations sort of faded off as everyone spent the rest of the day glued to CNN. It was sort of eerie, because it was the only time I’ve ever been in a high school and it was near silent anywhere you went, but every classroom had CNN on, so you could hear it no matter where you went in the building.



Posted by Andrew C. on September 11th, 2007 at 11:12 am

I was getting ready for work. I was eight months pregnant with my David and my husband had already left for work. I was with my toddler Jacob. I thought I was going to go into early labor.
Two cousins died that day. Both worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.



Posted by Lisa on September 11th, 2007 at 11:58 am

I was driving into work, when I heard the news on a local radio station. The DJ reacted to what he was seeing on TV just after the first plane hit.
I rushed into the Dell building here in Round Rock and called my wife who turned on the television as the second crash was occuring.



Posted by Lionel Menchaca on September 11th, 2007 at 1:32 pm

Six years ago today I was vacationing with my husband on the big island of Hawaii. We were celebrating our 14 year anniversary - I was 5 months pregnant with our first child, Alexandra. Life couldn’t have been any better, then the devastation hit.
I was completely overwhelmed by the news/video clips/interviews/acts of heroism. I was sincerely heartbroken for the lives that had been lost and the lives tragically changed forever as a result of the attacks. I questioned many things — what has the world become — why/how would other human being(s) create such a horrific plan and execute on it?
9/11/01 was day that will be forever remain carved in my heart and mind.



Posted by Holly Valdez on September 11th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

Thxs for this topic.
9/11/01 I was working about a block and a half from the world trade center. I was there early that day doing some setup prior to everyone else arriving. I was south of the site and when the first plane hit, it was the north tower. From my 9th floor office, it just sounded like a dump truck hitting a large pothole. The second one though was much closer and our whole building shook. Thought I was gone then.
I could talk about it for hours but for the sake of time I’ll just say I’ll never forget it and I’ll always look differently at police officers and fire fighters. God bless ‘em.
Tarod



Posted by Tarod on September 11th, 2007 at 1:50 pm

Analysts of social media…
When Jeremiah announced that he’s joining Forrester, it got me thinking about how few analyst firms are writing about social media. You can’t turn around with bumping into Forrester, and Jupiter is doing some work, but the other big firms……



Posted by The Net-Savvy Executive on September 11th, 2007 at 2:23 pm

Tarod, wow thanks for sharing.



Posted by jeremiah_owyang on September 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

My dad broke the news to me when I was at home getting ready for school. I told him not to worry, it’s just probably a joke or a movie. Well, after witnessing the second attack, it finally sunk in it was not a joke.
Next, I called you and asked you to come home from work. Do you remember?



Posted by shirley owyang on September 11th, 2007 at 3:23 pm

I do remember, and I came right over to you, it was a scary and confusing day.



Posted by jeremiah_owyang on September 11th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

I woke up and turned on the TV to get my day started and I thought I was watching a Hollywood made movie! When I found out the truth, I contacted my family and actually went to work that day at Exodus. Exodus Mission College 2–6th floor. I was working in the CCC. There was silence and very little activity in the office that day–a dark cloud loomed the hallways. We all left early. Driving by the SJC International Airport with no airplanes in the sky and hundreds of planes on the tarmac was a truly unforgettable site. A day–I will always remember and never forget!



Posted by S. Deuerling on September 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm

I was taking Shannon to the Oakland airport for her to fly back to Portland. In the airport we saw this crazy movie of a plane flying into a building. It did not make any sense. It was pretty early, like 6:00 am or so. An airport employee went around and turned off all the televisions while we were in line for muffins.
I put Shannon on the plane and watched the plane taxi off. When I was back in my car, I started hearing news reports about what happened. I called Shannon but her phone was off. Her airplane was on the tarmac for about 4 hours, before they brought it back to the gate.
Shannon was unable to get any type of transportation back to Portland for almost a week. I ended up driving her back.
Driving back, she said she would help with driving. I told her I didn’t mind, but she wanted to help. She took over just before Shasta. She was so busy looking at the lake and scenery that she almost missed one of the curves on the freeway, and plowed my 4Runner in the center divide. Needless to say I drove the rest of the way back.



Posted by Thomas on September 11th, 2007 at 11:35 pm

I was getting off the train in Brisbane, Australia (where I lived for two years) and walking back to my apartment. It was a Tuesday night about 11:00. I happened to have a walkman (remember those) with me, and was listening to th e radio (remember that?)
The DJ came on and said two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. All I could think of was that it couldn’t be a coincidence.
I got home in a hurry and stayed up most of the night watching the coverage. Most of the Australian TV channels pulled one of the US networks’ feeds. In between I tried to make a couple of calls back home to check on family.
Won’t forget that night.



Posted by Bryan Person, Bryper.com on September 12th, 2007 at 7:22 am

I got woken up by a phone call - Quick - turn on the news! I immediately called my dad in NJ. My folks live in a high-rise condo in Fort Lee, NJ, across the river from the World Trade Center. We watched the collapse of the second tower - myself on the phone watching CNN, dad watched out his window. It was overwhelming.
Meanwhile, my brother and a few other friends were in the city, trying to get home. The subways had been closed down. He said the air smelled of smoke and stunk. People came together to help each other out. His wife was stuck in DC, unable to get transportation back to the NY area. His good friend lost his dad, who was on one of the flights to CA that morning, going to another son’s funeral in San Diego.
Another good friend of mine was staying in a hotel in downtown Wall Street area. He was late for work. Meanwhile, both his company and the sister company they did business with in the other building were destroyed. He was lucky he was late.
I was frightened since as a New Yorker, born and raised, I know a lot of folks in the area, and DC also. There was one story after another.
I remember that day all too well.



Posted by Roni on September 12th, 2007 at 9:02 am

It was 3 weeks after I had left Exodus, 2 weeks after I got married in Washington state, and 1 day after we had returned from our honeymoon in Tahiti when we received a call before 7AM from my sister-in-law telling us to turn on the TV. I remember spending the rest of the day glued to the news and reflecting on how lucky we were that:
1. We had made it home safe and sound and weren’t stranded in a foreign country
2. That our wedding date had been moved up as we were originally supposed to get married that following weekend and no one would have been able to fly to WA to attend, including us
3. That we did not know anyone working in the building
4. That our families were all safe
After it happened we decided to sell our condo in San Francisco and we moved up to the country. I won’t ever forget that day as it was the first time I ever felt truly scared to live in this country.



Posted by Laurie (Turner) Whiteside on September 12th, 2007 at 10:12 am

I remember I stayed home late that day because I had a Exodus sales meeting with Austin Ventures that morning and was heading to a location much closer than the datacenter. Because of this, I actually had a very infrequent chance to sit and have breakfast with my wife and at the time 16-month old son.
I had just walked down the stairs and was pouring my second cup of coffee and looked over to see my son watching a large, blazing building on the TV. I looked at my wife and incredulously asked, “What in the world kind of movie are you letting him watch?”
Her response was “I just had it on the news…” I can remember the hair on the back of my neck standing up as I turned to see what it was as the second plane crashed at that very moment.
It’s amazing how vividly detailed my memory of that moment is. I can pick apart the details of almost every piece of it.
We did go to the meeting, but needless to say it was flat and we got very little done. I headed out, went straight home and spent the rest of that day at home.
Jeremy,
Good luck at Forrester. It will be interesting to see what comes out of your blogging about that.
Loy



Posted by Loy on September 14th, 2007 at 8:20 am

• Home
• Popular Posts
• About
• Contact