story2205.xml

story2205.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

The morning of September 11, 2001 I was sitting in detention, waiting for the day to be over with even though it had just started. Everything was as it should be, me and my fellow detentioners working on homework as our supervisor listened to the news on the computer. Something cuaght my attention about a plane crashing into the world trade center and I turned around to ask what was going on. At this point no one knew anything about the terrorists and he told me that it was an accident and to just go back to work. Several minutes later when the second plane hit, we knew that it had been no accident. Despite this being a national emergency, we were not allowed to watch the television coverage. He only let us listen to it. Elsewhere in the school, with the general student population, classes were cancelled and all hours were devoted to watching the coverage on the major news stations. Apparently we in the detention room were left out from this because despite what was going on, we were forced to carry out the rest of the day in detention. Because of this, my knowledge of what really was going on was sketchy at best, seeing how my only images came from very blurry and distorted internet television. It was not until I got home and found my mom in tears and saw some of the images clearly did I realize exactly what was going on. That evening, everyone I knew was concerned about getting gas while they still could, because of this gas prices had risen to over $2.00 and gallon. Also that night, the football team had a pregame meal/party and also celebrated a player's birthday. No one was in the mood for celebrating however. We sat and ate, talking much less than we normally do. I remember there was a certain quality in the air, I believe it was just the recognition that nothing was ever going to be the same.