story4829.xml

story4829.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I had just arrived at work at a local CD store. It was probably about 9:45AM when I heard the news over the radio which was set to a talk-radio show we would sometimes have on in the morning. My memories of it all are a bit jumbled, but if I remember correctly, I had first heard that a plane had crashed into one of the towers, or that there was a fire or something like that. Then I heard more about the second tower being hit and then the Pentagon and another plane going down elsewhere and I couldn't believe what was happening. I just remember hearing about what seemed like endless reports of hijacked planes going down. I remember how it all seemed so surreal, especially when I heard about the first tower falling. It just all seemed unreal, but with all the other effects of the events going on, like credit cards unable to be processed and busy telephone circuits, it let me know that it was, in fact, real and not far away with me being near Boston, where two of the planes had departed. I talked with my mother on the phone and it was through her that I learned that it wasn't just one tower that fell, but both. I just found it hard to imagine, and I hadn't seen any of it on TV yet, so I did have to imagine it all. I may have gone next door to a food shop during my lunch break and seen a little bit of footage on their TV (I really don't remember for certain), but I didn't see most of the coverage and earlier footage until I got home. I think that's when it finally started to sink in. I remember seeing a list of names of victims from the planes, and some were from Newton. It really hit home. It could have very easily been someone I knew or even me on one of those planes. I think some people I knew did know of someone who was personally effected by the day's events. That day at work I played the album "War" by U2. Many of the songs' lyrics turned out to be very fitting.