story2003.xml

story2003.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-09

Until September 11,2001, my morning routine included turning on The Today Show at 7AM Central Time while I perused the newspaper. On September 11, I had a sinus headache and decided to sleep in a bit before driving my daughter to school at 8:30 rather than our normal 7:30. I didn't turn on The Today Show. My daughter doesn't appreciate my public radio station, to which I normally listen in the car, and with my headache that morning, I was easily persuaded to leave the radio turned off en transit to school. Turning the corner after dropping off my daughter, I flipped on the radio at approximately 8:40 CDT. I then first learned that a 'small plane' had reportedly crashed into a Trade Center Tower. This was quickly corrected to include the second plane hitting the other tower. A couple of minutes later, the reporter announced that it was 'just being announced' that yet another plane had apparently crashed into the Pentagon. Then I learned about the grounding of all flights. America was under attack. Reaching my driveway, I raced into the house and turned on the television just as the South Tower collapsed. In shock, I called my secretary. In just over an hour, our department and all other state agencies were closed and staff sent home. I decided it was better to leave my children at their schools, in a semi-normal routine, and I sat glued to the television in disbelief. I now no longer routinely, but only very rarely, tune in to morning television. I missed the biggest and most horrific national story of my life by sleeping in; what other story could compare?