Most Americans remember where they were when they heard about the planes hitting the Twin Towers, but since memories fade, I thought I'd write down my experience here.
It was the first day that the National Honors Society was going to meet in my senior year, and I was running late. I flipped to a different radio station every time an advertisement came on. As I reached the left turning lane to enter the school parking lot, the news came on. "It seems an airplane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers."
I remember thinking, "Not interested in news" and flicking the radio off. All of a sudden, the meaning of the wavelength words came back to me and the radio was immediately back on.
But it didn't ring as truth.
That is, until I walked into Mr. Munson's office. My fellow peers and teachers were sitting on the desks, with eyes on the TV. While smoke billowed out of the tower, we watched as the reporters had little news.
Eventually it was time for school to start, so we all went to our first hour classes, and watched the TVs. There was no talk about Brit Lit that day; rather, Mr. Strasser talked to us about how this was a momentous event in American history. Then the second tower was struck.
The rest of the day was spent either watching the TVs or trying to do schoolwork while the muted TVs glared in the background. I remember some students in the hallway making light of what was happening, and thinking "They just don't get it."
I don't think any of us got it that day. I sure didn't.
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