You probably cannot recall what you did six months ago without looking at your calendar, but anyone who is old enough to remember can recall very clearly what they did on September 11, 2001. I got my driver's license renewed very early that morning, and after listening to the news (and then watching it on TV), I went to work to broadcast more news -in fact my radio station played no music at all for several days afterward.
Rob Walker remembers, too, and recently recovered digital photographs taken in the aftermath of 9/11. He and his wife drove across several states and she took snapshots of signs along the way, to document the mood of the country at that time.
Depending on your age, you will either remember or never really understand what an unusual time September 2001 was in the United States. In the wake of the event that would come to be known simply as 9/11, signals and symbols of patriotism and unity were everywhere. These included a widespread display of flags, unprecedented in my lifetime at least — to the point that cheap miniature flags had sold out practically everywhere.
Similarly, many businesses replaced the usual deal-advertisement messages on their letter-board signs with more emotional sentiments.
Walker noticed how the signs gradually began to include store specials over time, as a sort-of gradual return to business as usual. Link
The Nag at Nag on the Lake posted a link to the pictures along with her personal remembrance of 9/11, which also involved a road trip. Link
How about you? Where were you when you heard about the terrorist attacks of September 11, and how did you spend the rest of that day, or week, or month?
The week following was very, very strange. The mall was empty. Everyone seemed haunted, worried.
Too bad we had to engage in a "War on Terror" using the US Military rather than pursue the planners of the attack as the criminals they were by using international police cooperation.
I am still waiting to hear the leader of a Muslim country condemn the 9/11 action publicly.