"experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." -randy pausch

Friday, September 11, 2015

i was 18

i was 18
and a freshmen at chico state.
up early doing homework on my laptop.
my roommate was asleep still.
i didn't have any of the lights on because i didn't want to wake her.
and then somebody was knocking on my door really loud.
i couldn't figure out why anyone would be waking us up at 7am on a tuesday.
ashlee had to tell me twice because i didn't understand what she was saying.
we watched the second plane hit on live television as we walked into her room.
i remember listening to the terror in the announcers voice as we all realized it was no accident.
we spent the rest of the day huddled around the giant big screen box television
in the game room on the bottom floor of whitney hall watching the news.
classes didn't get cancelled until later that day.
i remember i went to nutrition 101 at 11am,
and the teacher sent us back home.
where were you?

2 comments:

Carol (Mehr) Simpson said...

I was at my home in Midvale, UT, still asleep, when my brother called me and told me to turn on my TV. I was a Flight Attendant for United Airlines at the time, and it was devastating to watch one of our aircraft fly into the World Trade Center and know that other Flight Attendants just like myself were on those aircrafts. I was scheduled to fly the next day, September 12th, but Emily didn't know that because she was away at college. Shortly after my brother called me, she called me to see if I was flying. It was a very real moment for both of us. I knew planes were grounded for that day, but not knowing what the following day would be like...and knowing I was scheduled to fly…I got in my car and drove to San Francisco, so I would be in position to take my trip. For the first time in aviation history...all airplanes were grounded, and all airports were closed. I ended up staying in San Francisco for 4 days and helping out in our Flight Attendant domicile office. After a few days, United Airline charter flights were able to go around the world and pick up our stranded crew members and bring them home. I met the flights and helped debrief the Flight Attendants. It was an experience I will never forget. It changed my job and my life forever.

Amy said...

That was a harrowing tragic day. I was at the airport to see a missionary off, and we didn't understand why none of the planes were taking off. No one would tell us anything. Someone in my group of friends had a radio, and we turned it on and listened in shocked disbelief. And then the airport gradually emptied. The missionaries got back on a bus and returned to the MTC, and the whole day was like a bad dream. I went to school, and half my classes were canceled, half weren't. It was so weird to go to classes and completely disregard the topics as we all talked, in hushed voices about what had happened. One of the kids in my class had a twin who was stuck on a subway in NYC near the twin towers. Another kid had a dad who was a reporter in NYC. It was all so surreal. And it blows my mind that there are young adults who don't remember this. Absolutely blows my mind.