story10724.xml

story10724.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-08-02

On September 11, 2001, I was a student attending a local community college and living with my parents. My first class began at 8 AM Central Time. So, being the good student I was, I was sitting in class at least 10 minutes before 8. Class went through session as it always did with no interruption. After the class ended at quarter after 9 (now at least an hour after the events in New York), I crossed the campus to go to the library so I could log onto the internet there. I checked my Hotmail account and upon logging out, Hotmail redirects you to MSN.com. It was then that I got my first glimpse. On the opening page there was a picture of the WTC with smoke billowing out of it. But, I simply did not react to it. I ignored it because there had to be a catch. As far as I was concerned, it was not real. I immediately searched for another page and that was it. As soon as I logged off, I did one quick glance around the room, just to see if anyone was huddled together talking about anything, but I saw nothing of the sort. I was now convinced that that picture was mearly a scene from a new movie or something. I then attended my next class at 10. Again, class went on as nothing happened. Nobody mentioned anything, so I had no reason to believe anything had happened. That class ended at 11:15 and I got home for lunch at around 11:30. I walked in the door and my father, who should have been at work, was glued to the tv. He turns to me and asks, "Did you hear what happened?" I glanced to the tv and saw the same scene I had seen on the internet earlier that morning. I scoffed, "Yeah. Something about the WTC." My father replied, "Yeah! A plane crashed into one of the WTC towers!" It was then that I realized...this was no movie. My dad wasn't watching E! Entertainment, he was watching Fox News Live. My dad then recounted the whole tragedy from the New York to Washington to Pennsylvania. I didn't eat lunch that day. As 12:30 rolled around, I realized that my next class started at 1. My father made me go, so I stopped off for gas on the way and got to class by 1. Now, everyone knew. My whole class was talking about it and everyone was yelling to the teacher that class needs to be cancelled or at least they should wheel a tv into the classroom so we can watch the news. The teacher refused and he instead taught class as if it was any other day. I retained very little from that lecture. After then, I drove back home and passed up the gas station I had filled up at previously with no complications. Traffic had now come to a complete stop at that intersection from the hoards of cars pulling in trying to fill up their tanks. I squeezed past traffic and eventually found my way out. When I got home, I continued to watch tv till my mother got home. When she arrived, I asked her if we could go give blood after supper. We attempted to do so, but were turned away. There was an over surplus of donors and our blood was simply not necessary. That evening I recieved phone calls from friends away at other colleges and my brother who is in the Air Force and was stationed at Mountain Home AFB. I watched as President Bush gave his speech and I tried to go to bed hoping the day was all just a dream.