Memories from South Africa
1. "I was 19 years old, working as a waitress at a pizza place. It was about 15:30 in the afternoon; I had Teletubbies on while I got ready for work.
The broadcast switched to news. I remember being upset because it messed with my routine (Teletubbies was part of my routine!), and at that point it was only one plane. It was a crazy enough accident that I stopped and watched, only to see the second plane crash a minute or so later.
I clearly remember thinking 'This is no accident' and a feeling of dread wash over me. I watched for as long as I could before I had to leave for work.
Because I left for work when everyone was going home from work, the roads were usually busy, but that evening there was hardly any traffic.
The broadcast switched to news. I remember being upset because it messed with my routine (Teletubbies was part of my routine!), and at that point it was only one plane. It was a crazy enough accident that I stopped and watched, only to see the second plane crash a minute or so later.
I clearly remember thinking 'This is no accident' and a feeling of dread wash over me. I watched for as long as I could before I had to leave for work.
Because I left for work when everyone was going home from work, the roads were usually busy, but that evening there was hardly any traffic.
I got to work and it was the quietest night we had ever had- this was a 10 table restaurant bar that did 200 covers on a slow night; if we had 30 people in that night it was a lot. We were connected to a sports bar next door, so we took turns sitting next door to watch everything unfold. The fear and uncertainty was palpable, and the main thing I took from that night was that the world would never be the same again."
- D. B.
- D. B.
2. I was 21 and on a soil science graduate school field trip out in the countryside. I had come down with a bad cold and got bronchitis so my professor sent me back home on a bus that day. I was listening to my Walkman and switched over to the radio where a DJ was describing what was happening. It didn’t occur to me to tell the bus driver to put the radio on in the bus so I was the only one who knew what was going on. I remember thinking that I really hoped it was the Taliban who were responsible, so that the US would eradicate them because of how they had been oppressing women in Afghanistan.
Both my parents came to pick me up at the bus depot with ashen looks on their faces thinking they would have to tell what had happened. I stayed home in bed that night and didn’t have a TV in my apartment. I didn’t actually see the footage till years later and I think my fellow classmates on the field trip only found out about it a few days later.
I don’t think at the time I even knew what the World Trade Center actually was or that it was such a big deal.
It’s hard to imagine now not being so constantly saturated with news and having any option to ignore such a massive world event.
- Reddit user /u/bastaway
Both my parents came to pick me up at the bus depot with ashen looks on their faces thinking they would have to tell what had happened. I stayed home in bed that night and didn’t have a TV in my apartment. I didn’t actually see the footage till years later and I think my fellow classmates on the field trip only found out about it a few days later.
I don’t think at the time I even knew what the World Trade Center actually was or that it was such a big deal.
It’s hard to imagine now not being so constantly saturated with news and having any option to ignore such a massive world event.
- Reddit user /u/bastaway