Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Remembering 9/11

On September 11, 2001, I was at school when the first plane hit.

I was waiting in the sophomore hallway at my high school before classes began.  One friend walked in and said "Someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." and another friend asked "Like, they opened the windows or something?" and we all laughed, not knowing exactly what was going on yet.

As classes started, it was realized things were serious.  The other tower was hit, and the Pentagon, and there was another plane somewhere, and who knew what else.  I was in an art class first period, and ended up watching news coverage in the library right across the hall.

When second period came around, I went to Chemistry, where we still had class.  My teacher said "everyone's going to forget about this in 2 weeks, anyway".  He was/is a very wise man, but I think he was wrong about that.  Either that, or he just wanted to get through the lesson and not fall behind.

As a 15 year old kid, I probably didn't take it as seriously as I should have.  Singing "It's The End of The World As We Know It" in the halls, but it really was.  Things changed that day, for better or worse.  People were being more patriotic and more alert.  Everyone was scared of similar things happening, even in small communities like mine. 

As the day went on, you could tell things were weird.  When I finally got home, after waiting in line for gas with my older brother (word on the street was prices were going to rocket), the third WTC building fell, which I still think is really weird since it got hit by nothing.  They say underground tunnels are the reason, or something like that. 

I'm still affected by 9/11 today.  It introduced me to one of my favorite musical artists.  Ryan Adams shot a video for his single "New York, New York" just 4 days before the attack.  When the video was completed, I remember it being played on CNN, at least a clip, which led to me checking it out and enjoying it and he has become one of my favorite artists over the years.

I also can't help but think of the attack whenever I see images of the Twin Towers or the Pentagon.  The scene in Home Alone 2, when Kevin is on top of the WTC is still a bit chilling.

Looking back, that day really was the end of the world as we knew it.  The people of the United States have gotten either more or less patriotic, it's hard to tell sometimes.  We grew together for awhile, and seem to be getting more divided nowadays, being election season and all.  I hope you all remember in your own way and try to do good in the world, because September 11 reminds us that there is plenty of evil.



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