m / September 11, 2009 7:02 AM

i was a senior in high school and i remember waiting for my friend to pick me up for school. i had turned on the tv which was really unusual for a school day, and all i saw was coverage of the first plane. i was shocked and didn't really understand the magnitude of it. my friend picked me up shortly thereafter.

then at school the second plane hit when i was in my first class. i believe the rest of the day we had the tv on in every class i had.

Carlotta / September 11, 2009 7:28 AM

At the time I worked at a very small company in the neighborhood. As I left for work I heard a one-sentence report that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I'm thinking that it's a small passenger plane. But something felt weird....

That day I worked alone in the office as my boss worked from home -- or rather watched the whole thing on tv. I followed developments on Yahoo news but didn't see any pictures till late that night at a bar. After closing time a 'friend with benefits' and I renewed that relationship.

R / September 11, 2009 8:14 AM

I had a friend visiting me from out of town, and I called in "sick" to my office early that morning so that we could take advantage of the free museum days in the city.

A little after 9 CST, I said "Hey, let's watch 'Oprah'!" and turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit. We ended up watching TV until 4 or 5 that afternoon. We then went for a shellshocked walk around the neighborhood, and it was a ghost town--no planes in the sky, barely anyone outside.

As the news kept slowly processing what was going on (so agonizing to watch), my friend said "They're going to blame Osama bin Laden for this," and I remember thinking, "Who's Osama bin Laden?"

kate / September 11, 2009 9:16 AM

I was in college. I had an early appointment at the student health center. I turned off the tv just as Katie Couric was saying something was happening at the World Trade Center. I didn't think much of it and headed across campus.

Waiting for my appointment and watching the fuzzy tv, I couldn't understand what was happening. The horror of the first plane could have been some terrible pilot error, but seeing that second plane guaranteed that shit was definitely going down. On live tv.

After my appointment and before my first class, I sat in my car listening to the news reports of the Washington Mall on fire (later found erroneous) and basically the world coming to an end.

The rest of the day was a mix of calling business traveler dad and east coast friends. And about 5 hours of CNN.

serafina / September 11, 2009 9:40 AM

I was in college and we had the day off in celebration of our university president's inauguration. I was sleeping in when one of my roommates called to tell me that something was going on with the WTC and it was not good. I immediately got up and turned on the TV--it was after impact but before the towers fell. I was alone in our apartment and felt very confused, worried and unsure of what the rest of the day was going to bring.

I remember immediately calling my parents to ask if they knew what was going on. My dad answered the phone and his uncertainty about the situation made me feel all the more scared. I will never forget that feeling I got when I realized that my dad felt as helpless and worried as I was.

David / September 11, 2009 10:01 AM

I was getting ready to go to O'Hare to pick up a friend who had missed her plane the day before, Monday.

Needless to say, I didn't go to O'Hare. Weird, though, that I got to sit waiting for my friend on the last day when you could get into the terminal without a ticket.

I remember watching TV and one of my friends talking incessantly about how it was probably the work of "anti-globalization forces."

vit / September 11, 2009 10:12 AM

Working on the 60+ floor of a building downtown. We got a call from the mayor's office shortly thereafter telling us to go home. I'll never forget the atmosphere in the financial part of the LOOP that day as we all left work. Eerie doesn't even begin to describe it.

annie / September 11, 2009 10:23 AM

I was in Hawaii, I woke up and immediately went to the pool and set up my "camp" for the morning. I was just about to relax some more when I noticed/heard several people in a gazebo leaning over a little t.v. and hearing gasps and one woman started crying, I walked over and CNN kept replaying the entire scene. We were 6 hours behind and just waking up when the rest of the country had been digesting this tragedy. It was strange to be in Hawaii not only to be so far from home but because it's an island and everyone was rushing to the grocery store for supplies thinking they wouldn't have another delivery for some time. I spent the day watching t.v. but I went out that evening to get out of the house, b/c I was on vacation after all but there was no escaping it. The American flags were already flying from every home and business and t.v.'s were all on CNN. After making sure friends in NY and in Chicago were ok, I enjoyed the rest of that vacation and I don't feel guilty about it.

lmy / September 11, 2009 10:33 AM

i was working at a chili's bar and grill in sioux city ia. morning shift. it was just servers prepping for the day. it came on tv and we all sat in the lounge to watch. i said we should go home and be with our families. one of the managers, rob, started getting upset. he was a military guy and this just affected him in a big way. they didn't let us go and no one came in to eat.

Mucky Fingers / September 11, 2009 10:57 AM

It was a sunny day. I was getting ready for work, standing in the living room and drinking coffee. I flipped channels and came onto channel 5. It all didn't sink in right away.

We closed the office early and went home. DJs on every station were worrying about the Sears Tower. I watched most of the coverage on one of the Spanish stations simply because it was more graphic.

I work near O'Hare. It was weird to leave the office and see no planes at all for three days straight.

Jennifer / September 11, 2009 11:15 AM

I was at work. I worked for United Airlines. We had just sent out our first flight of the morning. We were walking through the terminal and my boss came over the walkie talkie and said that we needed to get into the back room. We were there just in time to watch the second plane hit. It was a very somber day at our airport after that. It was very eerie to go outside and not hear any planes flying. It was creepy to finally hear a plane fly a few days later. It was definately a life changes experience.

just a geek girl / September 11, 2009 11:17 AM

Going to work in central Illinois, listening to an internet DJ describe what he's watching on CNN. My blog post about 9/11.

Erin / September 11, 2009 11:24 AM

It was my senior year of high school, and I lived in New Jersey at the time. I had just arrived in French class when I found out - the teacher usually started class by chatting with us in French, but that day she went right to the front of the room and said (in English), "Our country is under attack. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center."

Jackie / September 11, 2009 11:25 AM

I was a junior in college fresh off a summer internship in the Capitol. I was getting ready for class with the Today Show on in the background when they reported the first hit. Saw the second tower get hit live as I was leaving, and saw the first tower fall just as I walked into the j-school. I will never forget how scary and sad that day was, first not knowing what was happening and later with the despair and destruction and families helplessly searching for loved ones.

Colleen / September 11, 2009 11:26 AM

It was my first week of college. I was on a tread mill at the OU fitness center. I heard the news over the student radio station playing. I knew it was serious, but I don't think I really comprehended the extent of the damage until I saw the TV coverage.

I remember sitting in a lecture hall, in one of my communications classes, that day. We spent the whole class discussing how everyone was feeling, what we should be doing, etc. when one of my classmates stood up, faced the class and told us how he was from NYC, how he couldn't get a hold of any of his family and didn't know where anyone was. Before the anger set in, all you could see in his eyes was fear, dread and exhaustion. I'll never forget that.

mikely / September 11, 2009 11:26 AM

I was at work. A co-worker ran around telling us a plane had hit. Then another. I knew it was big when newspaper web sites wouldn't load. People ran up to the lunchroom to watch it on TV. The office closed around 11:00 and a co-worker and I walked home, from Clark/Lake to Ravenswood. What else was there to do? When I got home my sister (also my roommate at the time) was watching TV. There'd be plenty of time for that. I turned the TV off and we walked to Foster Beach. Only one other person was there. We saw a solitary military jet. Some of my friends went out and got hammered. I wanted to go too, but I'd quit smoking the day before. What a day to quit smoking. For about three days after that, I woke up each morning with the same dreadful feeling: "It wasn't a bad dream. The world is a different place and won't ever be the same." Then I sadly watched my country go insane.

Guy Smiley / September 11, 2009 11:30 AM

Like most people here, I was leaving my place for work as one of the planes hit the tower. I actually saw the second crash on the news as I stood to leave my apartment and turned off the Tv with the remote. Didn't think anything of it. Got to work at the Thompson Center and as I was going in started to grasp the magnititude of what was happening. Sat at work for about 30 minutes wondering if I should just leave or wait to hear what we were supposed to do. Got a call from my mom telling me to "be careful" (Moms...love they way they have no clue about how little one can protect themselves against a plane crashing into their building. What are you supposed to do, get under a desk?). We were told to leave work and as I left he building, the streets of downtown were packed with people trying to get somewhere, anywhere out of downtown. Long lines at all the bus stops. EVERYONE with a cellphone pinned against their ear. I ended up just walking north toward home down LaSalle street. Made a stop on North Ave. and stood outside of a bar just a little north of Piper's Alley and watched a television attached to a wall inside that was visible from their patio doors wtih about seven other people. No one spoke. Started walking again down Clark Street to a bar where I was a regular. During that time noticed that eerie sight of no planes in the air. Then started noticing how easy it would be for someone to plant a bomb in that garbage can, that newspaper box, that bus stop bench. Got to a bar where I was a regular and watched a bit more with friends, not really speaking, just a few nervous comments. Then listened as That Guy tried to tell us that the U.S. was getting what it had been asking for for along time, that the chicken were coming home to roost. A few people told him to shut up, to at least wait until the bodies were buried. Finished my beer and continued walking home, finally noticing that I hadn't taken the bus. Got home, watched the news some more and finally fell asleep. (Sorry this is so long).

Reznicek111 / September 11, 2009 11:33 AM

The morning of 9/11, while driving down Lake Shore Drive, we noticed two chain-reaction rear-end collisions involving several cars alongside us, which was rather strange. When I arrived at the office a co-worker popped in my door as said, "Have you heard? A plane crashed into the World Trade Center!" Startling news, but at that moment we all assumed it was just a terrible accident. I turned on the radio news, and within minutes heard a bulletin that a second plane had crashed into the other tower. My heart sank with the realization it was no accident, and our fears were further confirmed when the news announced a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon, then a field in Pennsylvania...we were all stunned, bracing ourselves to hear of similar reports at other locations - especially here in Chicago. My better half was in classes that morning blocks from the Sears Tower, and we spent several minutes on the phone coordinating how to get home before something similar happened here...then the phone lines blew the rapid busy tone: "all circuits are busy...please try your call again later." News websites were all returning overload errors, and the only reliable source of information was the radio...we all suspected our lives would never be the same again.

Christine B / September 11, 2009 11:37 AM

I had just gotten home from the hospital the day before from having a ruptured appendix. It actually ruptured on a flight from Chicago. I was still doped up on morphine and sleeping in the living room because I couldn't go up stairs yet. My mother got back from taking my daughter to school and said she had to turn on the TV that planes had hit New York. I was watching the plane hit the tower over and over and wondered if it was real or if it was a morphine hallucination. It didn't seem real. How could this happen? This has to be a hallucination. I turned off the TV and went to sleep. Unfortunately, when I woke up again and the morphine had left my system, I found out it was real.

Laura / September 11, 2009 11:38 AM

I was a sophomore in high school waiting for second period to start, when my teacher came in about 10 minutes late and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

At first I assumed it was pilot error -- recently a small plane had flown into a building because of pilot error -- but by then it was homeroom and they started giving us news. The rest of the classes were spent watching TV or listening to the radio to try and get info, trying to get the *right* info (so many rumors swirling at this time) and calling my dad, who was supposed to have been flying that day.

nate / September 11, 2009 11:43 AM

i was a junior in college and was packing for my semester abroad in london. i woke up a little early that morning and turned on the tv, which was unusual. good morning america was covering some smoke coming from one of the wtc towers. i was just starting to think about how frightening it would be to have a fire that far up in the building, when the plane flew into the second tower.

diane sawyer gasped, "oh my god."

i can still see the completely unreasonable silhouette and hear her shared disbelief. oh my god.

the absolute incomprehensibility of that moment is just as foreign and shocking right now, eight years later, as it was when it happened. i'm even tearing up and am covered with goose-bumps as i type this. i just could not believe that it was real.

even as subsequent videos surfaced of the sounds of those who had jumped, or the surreal whine of the jet engines immediately before impact; nothing has the power or as many unwelcome reverberations as that first inconceivable moment and those three words.

oh my god.

Andy / September 11, 2009 11:44 AM

It was my first week of 6th grade. My day started out normally, although right before I got on the bus I had heard that a plane hit the World Trade Center. Got on the bus, and sat with my best friend at the time and we both shook it off. When I got to school, the second plane was hitting the World Trade Center. The rest of a day was pretty much a blur, but I clearly remember one of my classmates asking if we would be attacked in the middle of Minnesota. My teacher, a former Army linguist in East Germany, responded by pulling down the US map. He outlined where the air force bases were to intercept any rogue jets and reassured us that our odds of being attacked were very slim. That did a lot to help stay comfortable with us.

Craig Kanalley / September 11, 2009 11:51 AM

I was in Spanish class at my high school in Western New York. An announcement came over the PA system that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We turned on TVs and saw the second plane hit.

Our teacher immediately told us, "We're at war." And I found that odd, and didn't understand what was going on until much later. I was confused and scared. It didn't help that students at my school had family and friends in New York City, and they were a wreck. It was a sad, scary day that I'll never forget.

May those who perished RIP, and God comfort their families and friends on this anniversary day.

Kris Gallagher / September 11, 2009 12:17 PM

I was at work at DePaul University in the Loop. A coworker said a plane had hit the WTC, and we assumed it was a small plane. Then we found out it was a airliner. Then the second plane hit. Then we started wondering if Chicago would be a target. Thankfully, DePaul closed quickly. I prayed my way on the 'L' all the way out of the Loop and back to the suburbs where my kids were in daycare. It was so hard no tearing up in front of them; I didn't want them to know how scared and heartsick I was.

Carrie / September 11, 2009 12:25 PM

I was working in a coffee shop right across from the Board of Trade. A customer came in and told me about the first plane. Like others, I thought that it was small plane and an accident. Then a little while later another customer came in and told us about the 2nd plane and my eyes got big and I mumbled something about "shit, this isn't an accident". We kept working for a little bit longer; I had Bin Laden pinned as the culprit long before anyone even knew his name. As soon as the plane hit the Pentagon, I called my boss (woke him and his gf up), quickly told him what was going on and asked if we could just leave for the day. I finally got out around noon. My customers were terrified that Chicago and the BOT were going to be next. Downtown was really spooky and eerie that day.

I spent the rest of the night at my sister's watching the replay over and over.

jessica / September 11, 2009 12:30 PM

I was in 8th grade. A kid running around, screaming that we were being attacked. Since I was on PST, both planes had already hit the towers. We spent the day watching news coverage in my classes. I remember that for the most part, no one was talking. We were all too shocked by what we were seeing. We later heard that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Much more vivid in my memory is looking at the newspaper the next day, and seeing photos of people rejoicing in the attacks. I thought, "Who could possibly be happy about this?"

maardvark / September 11, 2009 12:51 PM

I was at the tail end of a vacation in between my first law-practice job and returning to graduate school at Northwestern. I'd quit my job the Friday before Labor Day, and took a road trip to San Francisco and back (via Zion and Bryce National Parks, Colorado, and my parents' home near Indianapolis).

I spent the night of the 10th in Glenwood Springs, CO. I don't tend to turn on the TV in the morning when I'm on the road, so the first I heard of it was from the desk clerk as I was checking out of the hotel.

If you've ever driven I-70 across the Colorado Rockies, you know that it's among the most beautiful drives in the country--almost the only stretch of interstate that qualifies in that regard. So the morning drive that day was very odd--spectacular scenery contrasting with a radio dial clogged with devastating news. So I drove in silence, which made both parts of it more awe-inspiring.

The plan for that day was to make time eastward as fast as possible, and the 9/11 events only enhanced that. Driving past Denver, there were signs saying that the airport was closed until further notice, which seemed eerie--it also made me very glad that I already had a rental car.

At a fast-food restaurant in eastern Colorado where I stopped for lunch, I heard the first of many conspiracy theories about the attack from some guy in overalls behind me, convinced it was the doing of the Russians or something. A very strange day all round.

Walter / September 11, 2009 1:04 PM

There's a video shot of the second tower, shot straight up, right as the second plane hits. In the video, the plane just slips inside the tower, then a beat, then hell explodes.

Every time I see that video, which thankfully isn't all that often, I still hold my breath. I probably will forever.

Lara / September 11, 2009 1:48 PM

I was in sixth grade at the time. School had just started. I remember that principle came into our class room and pulled our teacher out into the hallway. When she came back in, she had told us what happened. She turned on the TV for a brief moment until they showed video of people jumping out of the towers. The town that I grew up in hosted a Federal prison, and there was a member of a terrorist organization held there. They were constantly testing the air for a bio terror attack, and they were briefly concerned that something might happen there in attempts to free this man. I remember going home that day and sitting quiet in front of the TV, watching the videos play over and over again. Even though we lived no where near NYC, it impacted people. Especially people my age. We had never witnessed anything like it before. We were ignorant about the outside world. We had never been exposed to the fear that something like this creates. Subconsciously I think it gave us all a better sense of pride in our country, made us thankful for the what we have here. More people started serving our country, a majority of the people I went school with joined after graduation. The best thing to come out of 9/11 for me was that it made me appreciate the time I have with the people in my life. While I wasn't directly effected, I will never forget where I was that day, things that were said, and the images I saw. A lot have people have seemed to move on in some way or another. But I am still bothered when some people don't show more respect for this day. I think it would be a wonderful thing if people still flew their flags like they did the weeks following the attack.

Sue / September 11, 2009 2:13 PM

I wasn't employed at that time, so I was just having my morning coffee and turned on the Today show. Only the first plane had hit, and it could have still been an accident at that point. Then the 2nd hit. I remember calling my husband who worked downtown and begging him to come home. Especially after the first tower fell. He didn't come home until after lunch. He knew what had happened, but it wasnt until he saw the footage that I could see it really sink in.

But what I really remember that day was the eerie quietness that settled over the city. We live under one of the o'hare flight paths. I hadn't realized how still it had gotten until one lone jet (it wasn't military) flew overhead about 2:30pm. I still wonder who was on that plane and were it was going.

Alison / September 11, 2009 2:37 PM

Looking out the window, I'm really struck by, weatherwise, howe similar today is to Sept. 11, 2001.

I was a senior in college, and both of my roommates had already left the house for class. Mine started later so I was still in bed. I grumpily got up after our phone wouldn't stop ringing. It was one of my roommates' mothers calling to tell her that her cousin who lived in Washington D.C. was fine. I had no idea what was going on, so I turned on the tv. I just remember standing there and trying to make sense of the wreckage on tv and how it contrasted to the absolutely beautiful early fall day just outside the window. That's all I could process and I remember wondering how something so terrible could happen on a day like this.

I didn't want to be in the house alone, so I went to all of my classes that day, where we discussed the events. All that semester, one of my English professors who had taken the events particuarly hard would frequently not show up to teach us or would go into rants about the attacks.

zoenotcool / September 11, 2009 2:46 PM

I was at work, at my desk in a large building downtown, very close to the Sears Tower. I first saw the news on a live news feed on my computer. I remember seeing it unfold, bit by bit, on the news feed, and feeling more scared and stunned as it got worse. It was that prickly feeling I get when something really bad happens. My coworkers and I shared shocked reactions. I'll never forget the look of panic on our boss' face.

The our firm told everyone they could go home, and that they would have an emergency phone tree in place to see if the office would open the next day. I was relieved that I could go home quickly, but worried about my coworker who lived in Indiana and had to wait for her carpool van. I don't know when I first talked to my mom, it might have been before I left the building.

The Brown Line was quiet. Someone said that 9/11 equalled 911, so it must have been planned for that date. I couldn't help staring at the Sears Tower as we headed north, and I wasn't the only one. The further we were from downtown, the "safer" I felt.

That evening, my brother, my boyfriend and I sat on our back porch. I brought out every candle I had in the apartment (which more than 30, probably) and we lit them all. Then we sat there, talking and listening to the quiet, staring up into a sky with no planes.

Johanna Atienza / September 11, 2009 4:35 PM

I was in my second year of law school and living in San Franscisco at the time. I didn't have class that day but I was about to start my morning routine and get ready to teach an elective course about law at a high school in Oakland, CA. My brother Jhonas who lived in LA called me and he told me that a plane had just crashed in NYC. I thought he was joking and trying to be funny from 500 miles away. He was commuting to work and sometimes he called me to pass the time in LA traffic.

He swore up and down that he was not kidding and instructed me to turn on the tv. I turned it on at his request and my eyes opened wide in astonishment and confusion. We stayed on the phone for several minutes while he listened to the news on the radio and I tried to decipher the scene on tv. After several moments, I witnessed the WTC start to collapse from top to bottom. As each second passed, I screamed or yelled while trying to describe the event to my brother.

We got off the phone eventually and I proceeded to watch CNN for several hours. For most of the day, everything was surreal. At around 6pm, I finally processed the event mentally and started to cry. I sobbed and fell asleep with the remote in my hand.

Kelly / September 11, 2009 6:49 PM

I was a senior in college, and was up, getting ready for class, watching the Today show. During a commercial, they cut to Matt Lauer holding his earpiece, listening intently, and he said "We'll be right back with a breaking story" then he said into his earpiece ".....the World Trade Center." Don't know if he was questioning it, but something struct me as important and I began flipping channels to find out what was happening. As I watched footage, my roommate woke up and went into the kitchen for coffee, and I yelled for her to turn on the TV. She did, and we both saw the second plane crash.
Afterwards, I went to an immunology lab class that only met once a week. A guy came in just as class started and announced that a plane had just crashed into the Pentagon. Our teacher was a grad student who had been in the lab since 8 am, and kind of dismissed the news (probably in disbelief). Which is why I ended up in a 2 hour class with no contact with the outside world, instead of watching CNN. I'm still pissed that I went to that class, and that our grad student didn't take any of us seriously. Probably should have just gone straight home.

Leelah / September 11, 2009 8:09 PM

Because I had a heavy schedule where I taught straight through until 11 am, I had no idea of the events that transpired. I remember walking happily out of my classroom across the hall to a friend's classroom, and she grabbed me so tightly with both hands by my forearms and said, "What is happening?" I thought there was some typical drama in the school, but she told me the news. I did not believe it. I remember wandering out of the room in a daze, back to my room to check the internet (which was jammed and worthless), so I wandered around the school until I found someone with a TV. His class was sitting in silence watching the smoke and the dust and the ruined structures. I remember leaving the classroom utterly convinced that the reports were wrong... there was NO WAY the Towers could fall. (In fact, I adamantly refused to believe it until I went home and watched the footage on my own TV). I did not teach that day... I let my students talk about what happened, and we all repeatedly checked the internet (which eventually started working slowly).

I almost started crying at the gym today watching the memorials on TV.

crystal clear / September 12, 2009 12:51 AM

I was fresh out of college, came back from an extended trip to Korea right after graduation. That morning I was just sort of slowly starting my day, and my mother calls from Korea to tell us about the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. I didn't really understand her and the extent of the horror. At first, I thought it was a small passenger plane. I turned on the TV and they kept on replaying the planes crashing into the towers and the buildings crumbling down. Pretty much glued to the TV and saw coverage of it the whole day. It felt like the end of the world - almost apocryphal. And I cried when I saw the relatives on TV desperately trying to find out what happened to their loved ones.
Then I went to my LSAT prep class later that night, which was somber as well.

psirue / September 12, 2009 1:45 PM

I was a sophomore in college and living in the dorms. I had class at 11 am and, of course, slept until 10:30. I stumbled out of bed and hopped into the shower. When I came back, I noticed I had 5 messages on my answering machine (remember those?). They were from my siblings asking if I had heard from my parents.

I called my brother back and asked what was going on. All he could say at first was "They were flying today."

My response was "...and?" I had no idea what had occurred an hour or two before I woke up.

He explained what had happened. I remember him saying "the World Trade Center and the Pentagon do not exist anymore."

My parents had a morning flight out of Boston to Atlanta. They were diverted to Toronto and grounded along with everyone else -- no airplanes in the sky. And remember how cell phones were not working very well? We did not hear from our parents until 6pm and the entire day we were worried they were dead. We had heard the flights came out of Boston that morning. Our parents could have been on those flights, for all we knew. And all day we kept hearing about more planes that were not responding to air traffic controllers -- remember that?

We were quite relieved that my parents were fine. My girlfriend at the time found out later that two of her friends back in NYC had died in the WTC, however.

I spent the day drinking beer and talking about the coming war and crying with my girlfriend.

snuh / September 13, 2009 12:29 PM

In The Loop, I met up with my sister at the Citibank building to take the train back to Bucktown. Things ran surprisingly smooth at the Ogilvie Station; they had train after train lined up, ready to get people the hell out of The Loop.
We got off at the Elston stop, and as we were walking over to her place, a couple chumps in a pickup truck catcalled after us. I'm glad a day of national tragedy and stomach-churning panic didn't get in the way of their street harassment. Clearly, theirs was a lesson in bravery; we should all follow their example.

No / September 13, 2009 3:47 PM

I watched every dark complexioned person I work with-Arabs, Pakistanis, Columbians, did not matter--clear out as soon as they could because they did not feel like getting beat up that day. Being a redhead and not in that kind of danger, I stayed at work until we closed early (5PM). Then I met up with some friends and watched the video--I hadn't seen it.

fred / September 14, 2009 4:04 PM

by the time i woke up, both planes had already hit. went to work (sw corner of the loop, about 6 blocks from sears tower). mom called to tell me to 'get out'. we were told we could go home if we wanted. office was quiet..ppl were listening to news on the radio or reading online. stayed until 5ish. relatively uneventful, considering what was going on. sometimes I think ppl in war-torn countries go through this every day (iraq, afghanistan, rwanda, sudan, west bank, etc)