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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by wombat@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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

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[-] axont@hexbear.net 41 points 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

[-] WoofWoof91@hexbear.net 28 points 1 year ago

lol, america is fucking wild

[-] PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago

These are some genuine vintage 9/11/01 brainworms. They just don't make them like this anymore

[-] da_gay_pussy_eatah@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago

Probably was traumatized by a childhood of red scare bullshit all rushing back at once lol

[-] Catradora_Stalinism@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago

my god imperialist cope is a helluva brainworm

[-] Sasuke@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago

these are the kind of stories i think about every time some republican ghoul tries to ramp up support for a war against mexico

[-] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 40 points 1 year ago

"I was on a sat phone with a CIA cutout in KSA and running point on the controlled demo of tower 7."

[-] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 37 points 1 year ago

I was inside tower 7's air vent when george bush called

"tower 2 is kill"

"no"

[-] LeylaLove@hexbear.net 23 points 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.

[-] neo@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

de-dice-2 de-dice-1

de-drama [Easy: Failure] -- "Ground Zero??"

de-conceptualization - Oh God. You did not have to blurt the first thing that came into your mind. But you did.

[-] Catradora_Stalinism@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago

thought you were discoposting for a sec

[-] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 18 points 1 year ago
[-] PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago

I was at an Al Qaeda training center in remote, rural Pakistan. When the news came in, we were hugging and crying and high-fiving. We did it bros, we did it

[-] Antiwork@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago

Me and my family were in Langely that morning. Just another day at the office.

[-] Finger@hexbear.net 14 points 1 year ago

I woke up, I saw it, that's all I know.

[-] ImmortanStalin@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 year ago

No half measures

[-] UmbraVivi@hexbear.net 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 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.

[-] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

begun

ok liberal

[-] TrudeauCastroson@hexbear.net 4 points 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.

[-] AMBER_BOT@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago
[-] ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net 2 points 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."

[-] DoghouseCharlie@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago

I was like 7 or 8 when it happened so I only vaguely remember seeing it on TV.

[-] WoofWoof91@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago

i think i got home from school, saw it on the news, went "huh, that sucks" then played outside with my friends
i was 10 lol

[-] Freeanotherday@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago

I was in building 7 with a jerry can of jet fuel.

spongebob-party

[-] Weedian@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My cat took a shit on the floor that morning

Then I watched 9/11 on live tv

[-] MerryChristmas@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

I know we all said we'd "never forget" but c'mon y'all it has been 22 years. I think it's okay if we forget.

I never forget because the meme posting starts early on here, and I'm like oh fun it's 9/11 again

[-] Ho_Chi_Chungus@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

Counting my unmarked 100 dollar bills that Bush gave me for planting explosives in the twin towers

[-] RyanGosling@hexbear.net 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Leftists who believe in conspiracies about 9/11 beyond “it was blowback” which already sounds like a conspiracy when you lay out the facts, but are all true.

[-] WhoaSlowDownMaurice@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

That and the shorting of airline stocks right before it, but maybe some gulf state guys knew something was happening idk. That's about the most extreme conspiracy I personally believe honestly

[-] RyanGosling@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

The Bush family and the bin Laden family were business partners before the attacks, so I imagine a lot of gulf state oligarchs had inside information because they’re friendly to both domestic terrorists and Wall Street.

[-] Zuzak@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

How 'bout a twist: Where were you the first time you got asked where you were on 9/11?

[-] Shinhoshi@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Or, for younger US comrades, how often have people asked something to the effect of "y'all weren't even born yet, right?"

[-] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I remember some classmate breaking the news to me and I remember seeing it on TV when I went home. That's to the extent of my memory on that day. I don't even remember if my teachers went over it or if we were let out early.

[-] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

I remember living in the US at time and the teacher turned on the TV for us to see for whatever reason. Every kid was worried and I was just playing along because I felt complete apathy. We then got let out from school early and this one neighbor get depressed for a month over it. Heard lots of rants about how the Middle East should be carpet bombed as well.

[-] sharkfucker420@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

I was in the primordial soup

this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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