For fun…where were you When historic things happened?

[Ginevra]

One of the things I remember most in the wake of 9-11 was the military fighter jets cruising the sky day after day. Living not far from our nation’s Capital, the threat that mass violence deployed there could kill me or numerous people I love was chilling. In a way, it feels safe-ish to be in the place where badass military might is housed. OTOH, it feels unsafe because I live within the bullseye range. 

[kirstenhill]

With 9/11, I was on my way to a staff meeting for my job and I heard it on the radio.  At first I thought it was some kind of "war of the worlds" type fictional broadcast, until I changed the radio station a few times and it was on all the stations.

I was in elementary school when the Challenger disaster happened.  For some reason my class didn't get to watch but some other classes (older? younger?) did.  Soon after it happened, our teacher must have gone to see it for a few minutes in the other classroom and then come back in our room, because she told us we should be glad we weren't watching because there was a terrible accident and the shuttle blew up.

The only other big one I have a really strong memory of is when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.  I was pretty interested in world affairs for being a 13 year old and I was on my way to a week long backpacking trip when I read a newspaper headline about the invasion.  I distinctly remember thinking it was a bummer that I was going to be away from any news sources for a whole week, because I thought for sure it would be resolved by the time my trip was over and I was going to miss all the excitement.  🙄

[Corraleno]

5 hours ago, DawnM said:

Another memorable event for me was the Northridge Earthquake.   I lost electricity for over a week, school was canceled for about 8 school days, and my close friend lived in the main apartment building that collapsed (I used to live there with her but had moved about a year prior.).  The earthquake happened in the middle of the night and I remember being so out of it, I kept wandering around my apartment trying to get the dang lights to turn on.   It wasn't until I was fully awake and looked outside that I realized all the lights were out.   My husband lived in Reseda at the time, right next to Northridge, and he had it worse.   A large fish tank shattered and he stepped on glass and couldn't find his shoes or flashlight.    To this day, he sleeps with a flashlight, his shoes, and his glasses right next to his bed.   And we dont' even live in CA anymore!

It was the most destructive quake since SF in 1906 and is still the costliest quake in US history (and Reseda was the true epicenter!). I had a big 55 gallon fish tank, too, and by the time things finally stopped moving it had migrated from against the wall to the middle of the room and half the water was on the floor! Thankfully it didn't break, but we still had broken glass everywhere — a big glass-front cabinet fell and smashed a large glass coffee table and anything that was in a cabinet or hanging on the wall was on the floor in pieces. I'd been through a few small quakes before, which just lasted a few seconds, but the thing that was so distinctive about the Northridge quake was that it seemed to go on forever and the ground was rolling/waving rather than just shaking back and forth. It's hard to describe what it does to your brain when you're standing on what you've always known as "solid ground" and you suddenly feel like you're on a boat in rough seas in your own bedroom and things are falling and smashing all around you. It's so disorienting — and then add the fact it was 4:30 AM and pitch dark and it's not an experience I will ever forget!