story1020.xml
Title
story1020.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-14
911DA Story: Story
I thought it was a joke.
It was too perfect of a day to have happened. My Government class, PAF101 was where I heard the horrible news that would shape the rest of my day and the rest of my life.
The bell had rang to start class at 9:35 AM, just as it had before, and nothing felt out of the ordinary. I had no idea that less than 200 miles from me, the world's strongest symbols of hope and prosperity were aflame.
My teacher came storming into the room, like she never had done before. we had only been in school the better part of two weeks, but I knew that even a new, nervous teacher shouldn't have been behaving so erraticly. She had always told us she liked playing practical jokes, so it came as no surprise and actually brought a smile to my face when I heard "Two planes just crashed into the World Trade center in New York."
Students laughed.
One student actually stood up and told her she was full of it.
Until we turned the TV on.
There they were, the two most beautiful buildings on the East Coast, pouring smoke into the warm morning air. Pens dropped, skidding chairs halted.
The laughter stopped.
Tears began to streak across even the strongest of faces as we watched, in utter horror, as Tower 2 of WTC collapsed, on live televison. Cursing, crying, and remarks about Arabs were being thrown like rapid-fire dodgeballs inthe gym class I had just come from as the pillar of smoke that had once been one of the Twins spread over the city.
My teacher left the room to recover the tape of the attacks before the administration could lay their paws on it. She came back in seconds later: "The Pentagon has been hit," she told us.
That did it for many. If they hadn't been scared out of their minds, they were then. Waiting for a plane to drop onto us, we watched the fuzzy television closely, staring at the lonely brother against New York's smoky skyline.
It was about that time the deans came into the rooms and announced all taping of the gut wrenching event would be destroyed and teachers doing so or harboring those who did so would be reprimanded.
It didnt make any sense to me. People were dying, many of which were friends, colleagues, and FAMILY members of those who were at my School, and all they could think about was what we were being subjected to? We were getting a sour taste of life.
Our teacher locked the door and turned the TV up, allowing students shunned in other areas to come and watch the day unfold.
The bell rang. Nobody moved. A teacher (my other teacher, it so happened) was seen running across the parking lot of the school, hysterical beyond belief.
Her future son-in-law, fiancee to her daughter, worked in the World Trade Center.
I watched out the window as teachers pulled her, screaming, back into the building.
The day slowly, ever so slowly, moved on. I only had a half day (I didnt take a full day of classes since most of mine were college courses) and was on my way home shortly after noon.
I turned the radio on in my car, and of course, any channel I turned to was the same: "WTC collapses, thousands dead."
The TV that night was the same, non-stop coverage. I saw the planes hit, again and again, knowing full well that the reprocussions were serious.
Off I went to work for 6 o clock at a local drugstore. I had my first three customers say absolutely nothing at all, even seeming rather pleasant. I began to wonder if I had experienced it, yet the rest of the world hadn't. Until I had one customer drop his money due to the shivers he was having.
"I'm just shook up at what happened this morning," he said honestly, cradling his child in his other arm, holding her tight as not to let her become part of the world's insanity.
It was the first night my manager had ever allowed the TV to be turned on in the breakroom. We all watched, again and again, as the horrors of September 11th unfolded in front of our eyes, burning into our brains and leaving scars time could never heal.
If anybody has any comments about this story I've shared, please contact me at Kevin17NY@yahoo.com
It was too perfect of a day to have happened. My Government class, PAF101 was where I heard the horrible news that would shape the rest of my day and the rest of my life.
The bell had rang to start class at 9:35 AM, just as it had before, and nothing felt out of the ordinary. I had no idea that less than 200 miles from me, the world's strongest symbols of hope and prosperity were aflame.
My teacher came storming into the room, like she never had done before. we had only been in school the better part of two weeks, but I knew that even a new, nervous teacher shouldn't have been behaving so erraticly. She had always told us she liked playing practical jokes, so it came as no surprise and actually brought a smile to my face when I heard "Two planes just crashed into the World Trade center in New York."
Students laughed.
One student actually stood up and told her she was full of it.
Until we turned the TV on.
There they were, the two most beautiful buildings on the East Coast, pouring smoke into the warm morning air. Pens dropped, skidding chairs halted.
The laughter stopped.
Tears began to streak across even the strongest of faces as we watched, in utter horror, as Tower 2 of WTC collapsed, on live televison. Cursing, crying, and remarks about Arabs were being thrown like rapid-fire dodgeballs inthe gym class I had just come from as the pillar of smoke that had once been one of the Twins spread over the city.
My teacher left the room to recover the tape of the attacks before the administration could lay their paws on it. She came back in seconds later: "The Pentagon has been hit," she told us.
That did it for many. If they hadn't been scared out of their minds, they were then. Waiting for a plane to drop onto us, we watched the fuzzy television closely, staring at the lonely brother against New York's smoky skyline.
It was about that time the deans came into the rooms and announced all taping of the gut wrenching event would be destroyed and teachers doing so or harboring those who did so would be reprimanded.
It didnt make any sense to me. People were dying, many of which were friends, colleagues, and FAMILY members of those who were at my School, and all they could think about was what we were being subjected to? We were getting a sour taste of life.
Our teacher locked the door and turned the TV up, allowing students shunned in other areas to come and watch the day unfold.
The bell rang. Nobody moved. A teacher (my other teacher, it so happened) was seen running across the parking lot of the school, hysterical beyond belief.
Her future son-in-law, fiancee to her daughter, worked in the World Trade Center.
I watched out the window as teachers pulled her, screaming, back into the building.
The day slowly, ever so slowly, moved on. I only had a half day (I didnt take a full day of classes since most of mine were college courses) and was on my way home shortly after noon.
I turned the radio on in my car, and of course, any channel I turned to was the same: "WTC collapses, thousands dead."
The TV that night was the same, non-stop coverage. I saw the planes hit, again and again, knowing full well that the reprocussions were serious.
Off I went to work for 6 o clock at a local drugstore. I had my first three customers say absolutely nothing at all, even seeming rather pleasant. I began to wonder if I had experienced it, yet the rest of the world hadn't. Until I had one customer drop his money due to the shivers he was having.
"I'm just shook up at what happened this morning," he said honestly, cradling his child in his other arm, holding her tight as not to let her become part of the world's insanity.
It was the first night my manager had ever allowed the TV to be turned on in the breakroom. We all watched, again and again, as the horrors of September 11th unfolded in front of our eyes, burning into our brains and leaving scars time could never heal.
If anybody has any comments about this story I've shared, please contact me at Kevin17NY@yahoo.com
Collection
Citation
“story1020.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 19, 2025, https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/14687.