where i was

i was in the curry student center, second floor, in the big conference room. it was a tuesday. i dont remember what day of the week i was born, or the first time i kissed a girl, but i remember that this was a tuesday. the theme of the meeting was crisis intervention. all 110 or 105 resident assistants were there as part of the pre-fall training. the door opened and a visibly shaken girl came in, i dont recall her name but she was one of the head folks. in a broken voice she asked for all of our attention and said that a "plane has hit the world trade center." with that, we were dismissed from the meeting and asked to return to our buildings. one girl in the back of the room started freaking out, her hands were holding her face but her eyes, as big as plates, were staring at everyone and everything all at once but not focusing on anything. it turned out her dad worked on the 100 and something floor of one of the towers. we all filed out of the conference and down the big stairs that emptied into the indoor quad. there were tv's that lined the side wall and a crowd had already gathered. this was all just in time to see the second plane hit. now things got a little more serious.
this was in boston mind you. think back to that day and try to remember how confusing it was. no one knew where the next one was coming from. i was in boston. the planes left from logan. i remember looking at the pru and waiting for a plane to smack into it. i found julia to see what she was doing and how she was holding up. her mom wanted her home...now. my mom called me too asking if i wanted to get out of the city. i declined, but i dont remember why. the FBI raided the hotel rooms of the hijackers at a hotel which was literally a few blocks from where i was. it was scary, it was terrifying. i remember thinking that it was entirely possible for 50,000 people to have died. especially when the towers came down.
the next day, i was walking around boston. there was not a plane in the sky, minus the two F-15's patrolling boston....loaded to the hilt. at the corner of hemenway and westland, there was a guy passing out flyers. he was inviting people into his corner shop for a bag of chips and a can of soda for free. it wasnt a promotion. it wasnt a gimmick. he just wanted to do something to make everyone feel a little better. ill never forget that.
the other thing that really sticks out in my mind is how hospitable everyone became. everyone was asking everyone if they were ok. take a few minutes to watch jon stewart's post 9/11 speech on the daily show. he captured the pride we all had, the fear we harbored, and the hurt we felt. i dont believe that the country has ever had a better opportunity to right so many of the wrongs that existed then. unfortunately, many if not most of them are still around. regardless, i have to love our country. i cannot express any view of dissention, or contempt for the direction of the administration without respecting my ability to do so without persecution. as jon stewart says, "its democracy, its light, they cant beat that. we've already won, they cant beat that."