Where Were You?

The guy only worked here a little over a year, but I'll never be able to forget him. Because I heard him telling my dad (who is in the office across the hall), "A plane hit the World Trade Center."

It's the question of the day. Where were you? It's a "don't forget" moment. I always thought it was interesting but slightly strange the way everyone of the last generation knew where they were when they heard about Kennedy. After that day, I understood completely. My memory is often terrible, with details and things fading quickly, but I still remember most of that day.

I remember the main web sites of CNN, Fox, etc. were crammed with traffic, making it impossible to find out news that way. I remember logging on to Fanhome.com, the baseball board I frequented before I ran across the Clubhouse, visiting the general discussion area to get updates from people around the nation. It turned out later that one of the posters on there worked at the WTC. His last post was dated at the same time the first plane hit.

I remember listening to the radio and getting a little concerned as well. Normally you wouldn't think that anything would happen around here, but being a town with a nuclear power plant, you realize that there is a target there. It wasn't likely, but the thought did cross my mind.

I remember getting the call that we were going to gather at church for a prayer meeting that night. It's the only called prayer meeting I can ever remember, which just underlined the seriousness of the times.

I remember going out to fill up the car as gas prices spiked to $3. (Little knowing they'd be there five years later on a more regular basis.)

I even remember some of the trivia: 9/11 was the first day the news stations used their bottom-of-the-screen ticker. I remember reading afterwards that they had all had the technology for a while, but were afraid there'd be a backlash from irritated viewers. There was so much news that day, though, they had to get it out there. Of course, now it is a common thing on numerous stations.

As we think back on that day five years ago, with the news stations reairing their feeds from that day and seeing it unfold, I hope our thoughts and prayers are with those for whom the question "Where were you?" is more painful and immediate than the rest of us.