Where Were You?

On 9/11 I was in physics class when the woman who sat next to me told me she had heard a plane had crashed into the world trade center.  This was about 9:30 am.  I thought maybe some drunk had taken a wrong turn and crashed his Cessna into a building.  I was thinking of the plane that hit the Empire State Building in the 30s.  She said she they thought maybe it had something to do with terrorists.

At 11 class got out and I went to the library.  I went to say hi to my boss.  She was normally pale but today she looked stricken.  I’ve never seen anyone in such shock.  She told me about the second plane, she told me about the towers coming down, she told me about the pentagon.  I felt like I had been punched in the gut.  I sat in her cubicle for the longest time trying to find any information online but most major news sites had crashed at that point.  Then they announced the school was closing.

I had to take a shuttle bus back to my car.  So did 500 other people.  If it had not been for the timely arrival of campus police a riot would have started about five feet from me.  Just tense people waiting for a bus to come.

It took two hours but I finally got home.  I talked to my friends, online, on the phone, i watched tv, i listened to the radio.  I was searching desparately for new information.  I called my parent’s cell phones over and over trying to reach them.  They were in Orlando, on a trip.  I finally talked to them that night.

I remember laying on my couch, crying, unable to comprehend the events off the day.

I remember the thrill I felt, the pride, anger, aggression, joy that I felt when I heard we had invaded Afghanistan.

I remember on the 10th of september I was in a deep, dark depression.  I remember how great I felt on the 12th, like every negative emotion had been lifted.  I wasn’t the only one.  My friend’s father was psychiatrist.  She told me his patients started paying all their delinquent bills.  I think that was a weird phenomenon but I can safely say it was real.