holy shit these are the same thousands of complete nothing stories every single time, posted as if they were some profound insights.

“I was in first period. Then, the teacher said our nation was under attack. Then I learned that planes hit the World Trade Center. Then I went home.”

Or, the West Coast version:

“I woke up and turned on the TV. The second plane had already hit. I watched the events unfold on the TV.”

jfc at this point I am convinced Americans are pathological narcissists

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    41·
    1 year ago

    My teacher locked the door, had a breakdown, and told us we were all gonna get blown up by incoming missiles. Told us to get under the desks and not trust any other adults.

    Eventually some school admin came by and calmed her down. She went on leave for about six months and when she came back she had gained a bunch of weight and had to always hold a crucifix or else she got anxious.

    I grew up in the south, thousands of miles away from NYC

  • LeylaLove [she/her, love/loves]@hexbear.netEnglish
    23·
    1 year ago

    The only time I’ve seen this question get pulled out is when bartenders I’ve worked with got suspicious (out of state, fake, ect.) IDs. Don’t wanna just turn people away for no reason, so they always ask “Where were you during 9/11?”. I told the bartender I was probably in pre school shitting myself and got the beer. She told me that anybody who looks as young as me that doesn’t answer similarly is lying about their age.

  • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    This isn’t entirely fair. While I don’t really have memories of it because I was too young, I can believe that it was immensely traumatizing to have seen live, even on TV.

    9/11 was not the literal worst terrorist attack ever, but I would argue it was uniquely spectacular. Add to that the immense fearmongering campaigns in the immediate aftermath, and the, idk, trauma-mongering? Such things as showing desparate voice communications from the passengers of the planes, showing footage of suicide jumpers, interviews with sobbing family members of victims, horror stories from survivors and first responders, anyone with empathy would be deeply affected by this media bombardment of trauma.

    I understand why “where were you on 9/11” is a thing people talk about, because while yeah, America as a nation spreading death and terror across the globe “deserved” it in an abstract sense, and the way the US government has used it as a propaganda tool is nothing short of cynical, it was absolutely a harrowing event for millions of people who followed it at the time and talking about it, relating to others, is a good and ultimately harmless way to cope, even 20 years later.

    • combat_brandonism [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      10·
      1 year ago

      sorry should’ve read the middle paragraph. good post.

      I can believe that it was immensely traumatizing to have seen live, even on TV.

      it was absolutely not. people were, but there’s a reason 911 memes are so popular even among those of us who lived through it. because it shouldn’t be traumatizing for most people besides the handful who had family or friends that died and it’s hilarious that so many other people with 0 relationship to the people who died were/are traumatized by it. triggering those jingoistic western chauvinists is a small consolation that they run the world to the rest of our detriment.

      as has been pointed out elsewhere, no one talks about where they were when Timothy McVeigh and the CIA blew up that building in OKC, and from someone who remembers both I can tell you I’m far more leery about the context behind that one

      • wahwahwah [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        5·
        1 year ago

        because it shouldn’t be traumatizing for most people besides the handful who had family or friends that died and it’s hilarious that so many other people with 0 relationship to the people who died were/are traumatized by it.

        “Um ackshuuually, it’s bad to care about people you don’t have a personal, one-on-one relationship with.” Jesus, what a take.

        Neocons 100% reduced 9/11 into a goofy good-versus-evil narrative to justify indefinite bloodshed, but I wouldn’t go as far as to demonize people solely for empathizing with the victims. There’s nothing jingoistic about feeling horror witnessing everyday people tumble to their deaths on live television.

        as has been pointed out elsewhere, no one talks about where they were when Timothy McVeigh and the CIA blew up that building in OKC, and from someone who remembers both I can tell you I’m far more leery about the context behind that one

        The OKC bombing was HUGE news when it happened. 168 dying in a major American city was a big deal back then because there wasn’t a mass shooting happening every other day. However, 9/11 was the largest attack on US soil, almost 3,000. It overshadowed OKC and now its status as an unspeakable tragedy has begun to wane too—such is the life of an American tragedy.

      • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        It was probably traumatizing for random Americans because they didn’t expect anything like that to happen to them.

        Something happening over there is different than it happening to the most powerful country on earth™️.

        Same reason people care especially about the Ukraine war us-foreign-policy. Same reason amber alerts for little white girls get reported on more than indigenous women going missing.

        It’d be less traumatic if there wasn’t a consent manufacturing machine for war, and if it was instead just an airline malfunction or something.

        • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          It was probably traumatizing for random Americans because they didn’t expect anything like that to happen to them.

          It’s entirely this. I watched it on TV when I got home from school (UK) and my thoughts were just “yeah? They’ve been bombing the world for years, it was bound to happen sooner or later.”