Where were you on 9/11 when you found out about the attacks?

[ConcordCowboy]

I was at work and had just got done scanning a patient in MRI when I went to put the paperwork through and saw people watching TV in the Tech lounge and I went in.

It was just after the first plane AA Flight 11 had hit the first tower...and obviously it was smoking but at that point everyone thought it was a accident.

I still remember saying well they can fix that.

Boy was I wrong and then I had to go and missed the second plane United 175 hit the second tower.

The rest of the day was a blur TV watching and phone calls.

Awful Day.

[Yeagermeister]

I was at work going through the daily routine and listening to the radio when the dj's said something was happening in NY and then obviously everyone else knows the rest. I just remember feeling numb that whole day. The weird part was when I got home my power was out, something on the pole was loose, so I didn't really get to see any video until the power company fixed it.

[Rackat]

I was the Director of Health Information Management (Medical Records) for a Health South facility. I had just got to my office when one of the staff came in and said to "come look at this." It was after AA11. I didn't think much of it until United hit. Soon after everything was grounded. I really got worried then. My wife of 3 weeks was in Birmingham and was due to fly back that night. I had all of our children (my two sons and my 2 step-daughters and step-son) with me and she was accross the country at some damn training. All cell towers were inundated and I couldn't reach her for almost 6 hours. She finally called and told me that a woman from a facility about 2 hours away had a rental car and that they were driving back from Birmingham. I was so fricking relieved. Then the anger set in, and it hasn't subsided yet.

[Rocky]

8:20--I was in an office bldg in downtown Ft Worth attending a seminar. Sitting in a large room working on my coffee when someone came in a little late to the meeting, and said, "did you hear about the WTC? A private plane crashed into about 10 minutes ago." Everyone flipped open their laptops and we learned the scope of the event. The facilitator dismissed the meeting after we learned that all govt bldgs were being evacuated. As luck would have it, my car wouldn't start so I had to call a employee in Arlington to come jump me. While I was waiting I just waited at the entrance to the parking garage and streams of ppl were pouring from the bldg. But what I remember most was the surprising number of national guard guys (who of course were wearing suits at this moment per their civilian job) who told me they were being contacted or being called in and they were placed on some alert status. That's when I knew it was serious business.

I finally got back to Arlington a cpl hrs later, and was glued to the tv the rest of the day like everyone else. But that night I couldn't sleep and was out back with my dogs around 4am when I hear these military jets screaming over my house at less than 1000ft, two of them in formation. I live on a flight path to DFW APRT, and I assume they were patrolling...well I know they were. I thought, "gosh darn, we are at war." Something like that anyway.

[vta]

Like everyone else, at work. A co-worker sitting across told me about a plane hitting. I checked CNN's website and they already had a picture of the mess. I figured, like everyone else, it was an accident.

A little while later she told me another one hit, and she started to cry. After a while we were in front of a television watching the news like the rest of the country probably was.

My brother, an electrician, was on a rooftop with a clear view across the Hudson from the Jersey side, saw the 2nd plane hit.

Not a good day to be so close to the City.

[trickblue]

I was driving to work flipping the channel around when I hit on Imus and he was talking about what most were describing as a small commuter plane hitting one of the towers.

By the time I arrived at work it was full-blown chaos...

I feel really bad for those families that lost loved ones, but it could have been a lot worse in terms of sheer numbers. We were fortunate in that respect...

[BrAinPaiNt]

I was at work.

A friend at work told me there had been attacks on the buildings.

I thought he was joking.

Turned out he was not.

[silverbear]

I had just gotten out of bed, emotionally numb already because we'd buried my Mom the day before... I watched the TV, and couldn't even get upset... I just didn't have anything left in me to get upset with...

All I could think of was how upset Mom would have been if she was there watching it... I was actually glad in a way that she'd passed...

[ConcordCowboy]

Originally Posted by trickblue

I was driving to work flipping the channel around when I hit on Imus and he was talking about what most were describing as a small commuter plane hitting one of the towers.

By the time I arrived at work it was full-blown chaos...

I feel really bad for those families that lost loved ones, but it could have been a lot worse in terms of sheer numbers. We were fortunate in that respect...

I know what you mean...if they would have waited maybe a hour or two more there would have been a lot more people in those buildings.

[Eric_Boyer]

I was home sick laying on the couch. My wife was in the bathroom blow drying her hair.

I saw the events happen live - screamed at my wife to turn off her hair dryer so I could hear the TV. She yelled back at me to go back to bed - she had to get ready. I finally got her to turn off the loud noise by shouting how New York City is under attack.

It seemed so surreal. I was up most of the night feeling sick, had the cold medicine zombie stupor going on. It just didn't seem real at the time.

[Crown Royal]

I was getting ready to go to class when the first plane hit. I was driving to UT Arlington, listening to Stern when they cut off and went to the news. At first I thought it was an accident - then the second plane hit.

Got to class (PoliSci) and found out about the Pentagon. Classes we cancelled, went home, didn't even try to go to work. Watched the television all day.

In the early afternoon, a plane was still in the air that wasn't supposed to be, en route to DFW Airport. All of a sudden over our apartment we heard a boom - a Jet flew over the city to intercept. We ran outside and just waited to hear the sirens.

That was terrifying.

[zrinkill]

My Water Jet was being delivered to my shop and everyone was very excited ......

Then my partners wife called us in to the office to watch the TV.

I sent my crew home (with pay, because we were not sure what was going on) picked up my son from school and spent the rest of the day watching TV.

[Hoov]

I was at work and walking through the patient treatment area in the dialysis center.

everyone has a small tv hooked up to their chair/station while they dialyze, i saw the first building on fire and someone said a plane crashed into it. I remember thinking, unlikely that its an accident, something fishy is going on.

couple minuets later someone said another plane crashed into another building in the same area.

At that point, there was not a whole lot of work that got done the rest of the day.

[peplaw06]

I had just woken up... the alarm clock was set to radio, and they were talking about something going on in NYC. But they didn't have a lot of info, so I didn't think much of it.

Left for class and heard more info, and when I got to class, we didn't have a lecture, we sat there watching the news on the big screen. After class I walked into the campus center on the way to Chapel where everyone was gathered around the TVs, praying. Chapel was something else that day.

The whole rest of the day was spent in front of the TV. I still remember sitting there in our apartment with my roommate for hours in silence.

[Sasquatch]

I woke up to reports of the first plane crash on NPR, not really comprehending what was going on, and then jumping out of bed to turn on the television once I realized they were talking about a passenger jet crashing into the WTC.

What was initially a deep sense of tragedy at this horrible accident turned into stunned horror when the second jet hit and it became apparent that the country was under attack.

I couldn't believe it when the towers fell. I had been to the top a few years back and took some consolation earlier in the day in the thought that they would be repaired as a symbol of the country's resilience and vitality. All those people waving for help in the upper floors, the firemen rushing inside to save them, and the shell-shocked onlookers on the streets running for cover. Unbelievable. I just sat there in numb silence watching the nightmare unfold on television like some Hollywood disaster film, except that this was tragically and frighteningly real.

The whole thing was a bit surreal as it was a gorgeous autumn day here in the Pacific NW with a deep azure sky speckled with a few languid cumulus clouds lazily floating eastward. The sun gleamed on the surface of Lake Washington. Mount Rainier towered in the distance. It was so tranquil and peaceful (on account of the grounded air traffic, of course). It was strange knowing on that beautiful day that somewhere horrible events were unfolding that would drastically alter the course of history.