What will you do on 9/11

[Whizzer]

I will reflect on the time in May 2001 that my wife and I sat and had lunch in the Sbarro concession on the ob deck of the WTC. My thought always go out to the people who would have been working in the restaurants and gift shops on 9/11 - probably some of the lowest paid people who worked there, just trying to feed their families as best they could.

 

Of course I don't feel any less for the other victims, it's just that I have a really vivid memory of being in that restaurant and it is always the first thing I think of when 9/11 is mentioned.

 

 

[Hawkman]

Not trying to sound mean, but its just another Tuesday for me.

[chromium]

Every year, on this date, I show the Jules and Gedeon Naudet documentary "9/11" to my students. Then we have a debate/discussion.

Never forget.

[Gotham Kid]

Every year, on this date, I show the Jules and Gedeon Naudet documentary "9/11" to my students. Then we have a debate/discussion.

Never forget.

 

[Bosco685]

I will reflect on the time in May 2001 that my wife and I sat and had lunch in the Sbarro concession on the ob deck of the WTC. My thought always go out to the people who would have been working in the restaurants and gift shops on 9/11 - probably some of the lowest paid people who worked there, just trying to feed their families as best they could.

 

Of course I don't feel any less for the other victims, it's just that I have a really vivid memory of being in that restaurant and it is always the first thing I think of when 9/11 is mentioned.

I can relate.

 

We had gone there one week before 9-11, as my wife and I are originally from NY and we hadn't been back in a few years. As we were shopping in Lower Manhattan, we stopped by the WTC as I liked to stand underneath and look straight up. It always amazed me how something so tall could stand so strong against the winds and its own weight. And since my cousin (who is the brother I never had) worked right there, we got a chance to grab lunch together.

 

A week later I'm out for a run and my wife comes running to get me, telling me I need to come home immediately as something bad has happened. By the time we get home, the first tower is down, and I cannot reach my cousin by phone to confirm he is okay. It wasn't until much later in the day we finally reached him at home and found out once the second plane had hit, he told his entire department to leave and go home. He had to walk home because the trains were down, which had taken him four hours to get through the entire mess of the area.

 

I need to call my cousin today, and tell him how much I appreciate him and am thankful he made it through such a horrible day. Thank God he made the decision to send his people home. It could have been much worse for us personally if he hadn't.

[joeypost]

The events of 9/11 were an attempt to disrupt what we all do each and every day, like go to work. The attempt failed. I will do what I am supposed to do today, live my life.

[DeliBebek]

Today I woke in a country I can't truly call foreign anymore, to the sound of a call to prayer echoing in narrow streets. It's been a familiar sound over the past ten years, a long way from sitting in language class out in Monterey.

 

"Starry-eyed and laughing, as I recall and we were caught,

trapped by no track of ours for they hang suspended.

As we listened one last time,

and we watched with one last look,

spellbound and swallowed 'til the tolling ended."

 

-Chimes of Freedom, Bob Dylan

[The Black Hand ®]

I'm having a tough time watching the coverage. I keep crying. I tell you one thing...I'm glad that is rotting at the bottom of the ocean. Watching this brings that home. Bin Laden is dead! It won't bring back the dead or heal the injured, but it takes a strong second. Vengeance is ours. It does seem impossible that something like this could have happened, but never again. Props to all the good men and women fighting for us and to all those who have died preserving our freedom. I guess I'll spend time thinking about all those in harms way right now, but I'll also go on enjoying my life because those can't stop us from pursuing our happiness in this great country.

[MODOK]

I'm having a tough time watching the coverage. I keep crying. I tell you one thing...I'm glad that is rotting at the bottom of the ocean. Watching this brings that home. Bin Laden is dead! It won't bring back the dead or heal the injured, but it takes a strong second. Vengeance is ours. It does seem impossible that something like this could have happened, but never again. Props to all the good men and women fighting for us and to all those who have died preserving our freedom.

 

Seeing that bin Laden masterminded the entire elaborate 9-11 attacks from a primitive cave in Afghanistan, I wish we could have blown up the mountain he was in before it happened.

 

Sure would've saved countless lives.

[Brian48]

I will do my best to live my life as normal as possible, but will be reflecting throughout the day. My daughter was too young to remember and my son wasn't even born at the time, but I have and will continue to tell them all about it until the day I die.

 

If there was any day I really regretted leaving the Marine Corps, it was that day. I remember it still as if it was yesterday.

[aggr1103]

The events of 9/11 were an attempt to disrupt what we all do each and every day, like go to work. The attempt failed. I will do what I am supposed to do today, live my life.

 

+1. Best thing everyone can do today is go through their normal routines of going to work, school, etc.

[sufunk]

The events of 9/11 were an attempt to disrupt what we all do each and every day, like go to work. The attempt failed. I will do what I am supposed to do today, live my life.

 

+1. Best thing everyone can do today is go through their normal routines of going to work, school, etc.

 

I dont know, i used to be able to get on a plane without waiting 45 minutes for a complete stranger to grope my man parts and look at an x-ray of my naked body

[Gotham Kid]

The events of 9/11 were an attempt to disrupt what we all do each and every day, like go to work. The attempt failed. I will do what I am supposed to do today, live my life.

 

+1. Best thing everyone can do today is go through their normal routines of going to work, school, etc.

 

I dont know, i used to be able to get on a plane without waiting 45 minutes for a complete stranger to grope my man parts and look at an x-ray of my naked body

 

 

 

 

[Comicopolis]

[sufunk]

The events of 9/11 were an attempt to disrupt what we all do each and every day, like go to work. The attempt failed. I will do what I am supposed to do today, live my life.

 

+1. Best thing everyone can do today is go through their normal routines of going to work, school, etc.

 

I dont know, i used to be able to get on a plane without waiting 45 minutes for a complete stranger to grope my man parts and look at an x-ray of my naked body

 

 

 

 

 

The obese TSA agent that grabbed my wad the last time i flew looked NOTHING like THAT!

[MODOK]

 

The obese TSA agent that grabbed my wad the last time i flew looked NOTHING like THAT!

 

[skypinkblu]

I find the fact that it's a Tuesday again, and a clear day eerie...I'm going to think about the people I worked with who are no longer here, probably victims of the stuff in the air...

 

and I'm going to think about my two friends who are flying today, because that will always concern me...but Joey's right, I'm going to go about my life, because otherwise they won.

[Buzzetta]

I go about my business here in NY. While I would never say that I am "afraid" I would be hard pressed to admit that I am not a little more vigilant.

 

On September 11th, 2001, there was a scramble to find out where family members and friends were that day. My job at the time had instituted a zero outside communications policy so we were unaware of what was going on at the time. Slowly word of mouth had spread and nobody cared about policy. I remember calling my friend who was unemployed at the time to ask about what was going on. I told him that I heard something happened at the WTC. His response, "What WTC? There is no WTC. It's gone."

 

My brother worked on Wall Street at the exchange during this time period. He did audits or something like that. If the attacks occurred on 9/10 or 9/12 he would not be here as every other day he was in his office doing reports. The people he worked with were not that lucky. Since then, he has lost his taste for Wall Street and I guess you could say he works for himself but does not have what anyone would consider a traditional job.

 

I am happy that my closest friends survived that day. We thought that we had lost one of them as we did not hear from him for over 24hrs. Anyone who lives in the area knows what it was like making a phone call after the buildings had collapsed. He was a first responder and was ordered into one of the towers with a number of NYPD. As they began their assent into the building a higher ranking official told them to get out. After that tower collapsed he called his sister and left a message that he was alright but would remain in the city. In his haste he called her work number and left a message on the office voicemail. She had left work to be with her family.

 

My other friends were also fortunate as they also were not trapped in the buildings but were left to deal with the aftermath. Many people from their departments had perished in the collapse.

 

My father does not speak of it much but he was a teacher at the time working in a school near the Brooklyn waterfront that had a clear line of sight to what was going on. They had to pull the blinds and leave classrooms where there were no blinds so students did not have to watch their parents die in the collapse. Too many students had no one to go home to or only one parent to see at the end of that day.

 

It is funny, but the one thing that I remember the most was the smell. For a couple of weeks, there was a lingering heavy smell in the air that I do not wish to go into complete detail about. Those that lived here at the time know what I am talking about.

 

Perhaps the most significant aspect is how NY has changed since then. Many of here like to pretend that life goes on as normal but it doesn't. I think that a large scale attack is not on the forefront of our minds but the lingering thought that something could happen is still there. I remember being on the LIRR a couple of years ago when a transformer or something like that blew on the train causing a large shaking and a popping sound loud enough to stir everyone on the train as we were about to enter the tunnel... People were unnerved and your first thoughts when something like that happens are not pleasant ones.

 

I noticed that plenty of people have mentioned Howard Stern. On that day, Stern can be credited with what was one of the finer hours of broadcast radio. While many switched over to parent networking fees, Stern maintained a radio presence and a voice for NY. I have copies of that show on file. If anyone wants a copy, let me know and I will dig it up and send it to you.

 

 

 

On a side note:

 

Due to the time difference, it is already Tuesday the 11th here in Bangkok.

 

What will I do today as an American expatriate living here in Thailand?

 

I will say a prayer for the families of victims who perished in this historic tragedy, and do my best to supress the anger I have regarding the "official version" of this modern day Pearl Harbor.

 

 

Please do not put a veiled reference to your politics regarding these events. Save it for another day and some place else if you want to push whatever agenda you have. I really do not care if this offends you.

[Columbia Comics]

Hug my wife and children and be thankful that I didn't have to experience the madness and loss that many did on that day!

[Mr Mylar]

 

Reflect and believe in hope