What were you doing when the WTC Twin Towers fell?

[Waltheof 10]

I was sitting at my computer and talking in a chatroom, when one of the American people in there posted a message to say that a plane had flown into one of the towers, this was just after it happened, even before the second plane hit and while it was still thought to be an accident--it was stupefying but perhaps I was the first person in Sheffield to know about it before the news became official. I should add I was around when Kennedy was killed, too, and still living in Australia then, but I can't remember what I was doing at the time.

[Cayenne 10]

I had just come in from early shift and for some reason, put the telly on; I never did this normally, it was like something had willled me to. It was just starting to come through. I just sat and watched it unfold.

 

My first thoughts were "You have to be REALLY pi$$<d off with the US to do all this" - it obviously had been highly planned and a lot of people had willingly committed a co-ordinated kamikaze attack with four planes. And then, "the US will be looking for retribution for all of this" which they of course did when they invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. And then, "well if Al Qaeda is the tip of the iceberg, there must be an awful lot of people not quite so discontented with the West but discontented nevertheless. If only the US had thought "oh, sugarlumps, what have we done to deserve this?" But they didn't seem to, at the time.

 

It's a crying shame the US government did not learn anything from it. 3,500 people killed in one go in one of their major cities caused them to go off and 'shoot first and ask questions later' which I suppose is a natural reaction considering what had happened. But what I will NEVER get my head round is why Blair dragged us in to Iraq. It was doomed from the start and reeked of a badly-thought out action showing Bush was "doing something". The wrong thing, it turned out.

 

As the towers burned you could only hope that there was some way the occupants were going to be able to be rescued - this was the U S of A it was happening in, surely they had some ingenious way of getting the people out? It was not their fault they were there - they were the victims of the result of their Government's possibly (and Corporate America's most unlikely) well-meant meddling in the affirs of other countries. Then the towers collapsed one after another and I knew there was no hope for them. It made me feel so sad.

 

I also knew there was now even less hope for peace in the middle east. Now the US is getting het up about Iran's nuclear activities.

 

How is it OK for our Government to be considering expansion of nuclear power but Iran can't do the same. I also understood that there is a great yawning gap between having the materials to make an atomic bomb and actually getting one to work or am I referring to Government propaganda from the cold war days?

[Avalon 10]

I was at college all that day. I was blisfully unaware until i came home. The house was unsually quiet and mum and dad were both out in the garden potting flowers. I chatted to them and they said "Have you seen the news?" I said, no, and then i turned on Sky.

 

Couldnt believe it. Call my mates and they couldnt either.

 

Went to church that night and sat at the sound desk in total silence while the vicar lead prayers from the front.

 

Will always remember that day.

[Serafina 10]

I was in the crucible theatre foyer, having spent 4 weeks - and a good amount of money - charting the history of Sheffield's Compass Theatre Company.

 

I had produced a beautiful display and had been practically locked in the foyer for a fortnight when it was closed to the public anyway (which we had not been informed of).

 

When my partner phoned to tell me what he had heard on the radio I felt so removed I actually thought he was taking the ****. I have no idea why I thought he would have believed that to be funny...

 

Two hours later when I left the Crucible I realiseed it was most definately not...

 

Five hours later I knew things were f**ke* up.

[fangorn 10]

i was off sick from work,just got back from the quacks and phoned in to work to speak to the assistant manageress about not coming in and told her about wot had happened,only to be told she'd heard about it from a couple of people and still had'nt found out wot the punchline to "have you heard about the twin towers in america being dropped",

 

she thought it wos a joke

 

stoopid cow

 

[Brunette 10]

I was working at sheffield uni when my mate came in and told me (remember my weird boss dismissing it as "nothing" in an attempt to get us back to work). We went home early and watched Sky news for the rest of the day - it was all so shocking

[Fareast 10]

I was in Turkey , teaching in Izmir . I'd heard some garbled version at school after lunch [ time difference of 3 or 4 hours ] but hadn't really understood it .Then , after school , I had to 'phone a friend up in Ankara and he said , " Heard the news ? ".

There had just been a terrorist killing in Taksim Square , Istanbul , near where he and I had very recently walked and at first I thought he was talking about that ---------confusion ! Then he told me what had happened in America .

Got back to the apartment and watched it on CNN. I think it was on CNN , non-stop , for about the next 4 days , as with a lot of other channels .I don't think it had the same impact in Turkey as it did in W.Europe as in Turkey they had suffered 30,000 dead in what was almost a civil war in the east of Turkey and there were always bombs popping off somewhere or other in Turkey at that time .

[littlebasher 11]

I was at work, being the only one on my floor with internet access my desk became pretty crowded. Saying that though, i do remember that virtually every web site you went to was too busy to view. I eventually got onto Sky news which was horrendously slow.

 

My dad however, was on an American Military base in Milwaukee. When it all happened he was bundled with his colleagues into a nuclear bunker where he spent the rest of the day. None of us could get hold of him and had no idea where he was - worrying.

 

It then took him another week to actually get a plane out of the country.

[Sweetcheeks 15]

I was gardening, trimming my conifers actually, and came in to make a cup of coffee. I switched the TV on to check the betting on a horse race and was stunned to see a tall building on fire. I didnt realise what was happening and when I listened to the running commentary I just sat staring at the events unfolding in front of me. It is still hard to take in even after all this time.

[sharper_fin 10]

I was on holiday in Florida. Total strangers kept coming up to me (Americans) and, having heard my accent, thanking me for staying in their country in such a troubling time. Strange and scary.

 

Shaun

[lotar 10]

I was sat in a helicopter flying back from a north sea oil platform.

 

I didnt know about the twin towers. When I got home and put the TV on I thought it was an accident and the plane had hit the tower by pilot error.

[johnbradley 10]

i was skiving off work...ended up recording the whole day on tape...even captured the 'lost footage' of a strange white plane in the air over washington DC...still unexplained, that one...