story8693.xml
Title
story8693.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-11-29
911DA Story: Story
My roommate knocked on my door waking me up. I sorta stumbled over and talked to him. He said all this "shit" was going down. So I turned on my tv and we both just stood there in our underwear and watched.
It didn't really register with me at first. I thought it was some sort of special effect for a tv show or movie. One tower was on fire. The announcer said something about a plane hitting it...it seemed to me like it wasnt that big a deal. I mean planes crash all the time. Then a second plane hit the other tower. My roommate freaked. My frist thought was "dang...I hope this doesnt mess up my plane tickets" (I was heading outta the country to visit my girlfriend a week later). I know that sounds caddy to think that but I'm just being honest. People always say they get this moment of horror or clarity or some profound concept hits them or some crap....but for me it just sorta gradually sunk in through the rest of the day.
I went to my classes that day, I remember the campus was empty, I mean like absolutely no one was there, like I was the sole survivor in a holocaust of fear. My first class was religion. Coincidentally the class was mostly a split between jewish kids and arabic kids (Im niether). The conversations got pretty heated, everyone started pointing the finger. Our Prof. sorta just sat back and watched, I think he saw a microcosm in the class of what was happening outside. Everyone angry, everyone scared, everyone hurt.
I don't remember being really scared. I live on the west coast and it seemed then (and now) that nothing major has ever happened on this side of the states (knock on wood). But living in south central L.A. you get used to hearing a lot of racket from neighbors, cars, and all the ghetto birds (planes) flying out of LAX. When I got back to my apt I noticed that too. It was eerily quiet. Not one solitary plane was in the sky. I dont really even remembers birds chirping. It was like all of LA was holding its breathe...just waiting like the rest of the country.
I remember doing the regular deal everyone else probably did...calling their family just to make sure no one died from shock or whatever. We all went over it to each other, trying to make some kind of sense out of it. Osama Bin Laden's name started coming up on the news and for the first time I felt like a real emotion. They showed his picture and I was truly enraged. I wanted to shove my baseball bat through my tv, when his face was on it. I think if he had been in that room, I wouldve really honestly tried to kill him.
I started just harboring this hate you know? Every time the Taliban were shown on tv over the next few days...I wanted to kill them. Arabic people on tv or the streets around my house, it didnt matter to me, I wanted them all dead. Rage doesn't usually discern...
But I also felt conflicted. Because, you see, my girlfriend at the time was arabic too. When I went to see her a week later, it was great. She was worried something might happen to me on the flight and totally happy I was with her. When I got to her home, her family was all there, all glued to the tube, like deer caught in someones headlights. They were relieved to see me.
Which sorta caught me off guard...cause they're arabic too. Her Dad said he had cried when the towers collapsed. Her mother had prayed for all the orphans and widows. And now they were terrified for their family back home in the middle east. (I doubt any of them were Taliban).
They were scared to really go out, and when we all heard about the bus load of muslim kids that got stoned...well I sorta understood their fear.
Now I look back on all of that over a year later and I still want some justice for what happened to all those people in New York. But more than that I want people to just take a breather before acting rash. Evil begets evil and shit happens to everybody. I think the question is, how will you respond to it? Ben Laden's plan will only have truly worked if we spread his message of terror. If we act violently, begrudginly, accusingly to others we will only validfy his lies. It sounds cliche...but what if America acted in love? What if, instead of praying for vengeance or victory...we pray for reconciliation?
11/29/02 - Glen Gabel
It didn't really register with me at first. I thought it was some sort of special effect for a tv show or movie. One tower was on fire. The announcer said something about a plane hitting it...it seemed to me like it wasnt that big a deal. I mean planes crash all the time. Then a second plane hit the other tower. My roommate freaked. My frist thought was "dang...I hope this doesnt mess up my plane tickets" (I was heading outta the country to visit my girlfriend a week later). I know that sounds caddy to think that but I'm just being honest. People always say they get this moment of horror or clarity or some profound concept hits them or some crap....but for me it just sorta gradually sunk in through the rest of the day.
I went to my classes that day, I remember the campus was empty, I mean like absolutely no one was there, like I was the sole survivor in a holocaust of fear. My first class was religion. Coincidentally the class was mostly a split between jewish kids and arabic kids (Im niether). The conversations got pretty heated, everyone started pointing the finger. Our Prof. sorta just sat back and watched, I think he saw a microcosm in the class of what was happening outside. Everyone angry, everyone scared, everyone hurt.
I don't remember being really scared. I live on the west coast and it seemed then (and now) that nothing major has ever happened on this side of the states (knock on wood). But living in south central L.A. you get used to hearing a lot of racket from neighbors, cars, and all the ghetto birds (planes) flying out of LAX. When I got back to my apt I noticed that too. It was eerily quiet. Not one solitary plane was in the sky. I dont really even remembers birds chirping. It was like all of LA was holding its breathe...just waiting like the rest of the country.
I remember doing the regular deal everyone else probably did...calling their family just to make sure no one died from shock or whatever. We all went over it to each other, trying to make some kind of sense out of it. Osama Bin Laden's name started coming up on the news and for the first time I felt like a real emotion. They showed his picture and I was truly enraged. I wanted to shove my baseball bat through my tv, when his face was on it. I think if he had been in that room, I wouldve really honestly tried to kill him.
I started just harboring this hate you know? Every time the Taliban were shown on tv over the next few days...I wanted to kill them. Arabic people on tv or the streets around my house, it didnt matter to me, I wanted them all dead. Rage doesn't usually discern...
But I also felt conflicted. Because, you see, my girlfriend at the time was arabic too. When I went to see her a week later, it was great. She was worried something might happen to me on the flight and totally happy I was with her. When I got to her home, her family was all there, all glued to the tube, like deer caught in someones headlights. They were relieved to see me.
Which sorta caught me off guard...cause they're arabic too. Her Dad said he had cried when the towers collapsed. Her mother had prayed for all the orphans and widows. And now they were terrified for their family back home in the middle east. (I doubt any of them were Taliban).
They were scared to really go out, and when we all heard about the bus load of muslim kids that got stoned...well I sorta understood their fear.
Now I look back on all of that over a year later and I still want some justice for what happened to all those people in New York. But more than that I want people to just take a breather before acting rash. Evil begets evil and shit happens to everybody. I think the question is, how will you respond to it? Ben Laden's plan will only have truly worked if we spread his message of terror. If we act violently, begrudginly, accusingly to others we will only validfy his lies. It sounds cliche...but what if America acted in love? What if, instead of praying for vengeance or victory...we pray for reconciliation?
11/29/02 - Glen Gabel
Collection
Citation
“story8693.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 24, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/15623.