My answer to the friday question is similar to Rae's, though I do remember the circumstances under which I found out about the twin towers. We were walking back from where the school bus had dropped us off, and a friend of a friend said something like, "Did you hear? A fighter jet crashed into an office building in New York." Obviously that didn't sound too life-changing.
When I got home, my family and I watched the news and saw what had really happened. It was unreal. First of all, the fact that they both collapsed was really hard to believe. (I once read that a small plane had crashed into the Empire State Building, with no lasting damage being done. I think that made me assume the twin towers would have been okay too.) Secondly, I recognized the buildings from the episode of the Simpsons where Homer has to do something in the World Trade Centre, but also has to pee really badly. So it kind of hit home.
After that, it was everywhere. In the papers, on TV, and on people's minds. The whole terrorist thing never really made a huge impact one me. Just the destruction– the scale of the disaster.
However, as Rae said, it did not affect me personally. No-one I know was there, and I find it hard to be personally affected by "the terrorist threat". The loss of life is very sad, and the broken lives left-over after 9/11, but then again I feel that way about the tsunami that hit Japan, the earthquakes that hit Haiti, the murders and bombing in Norway…
Honestly, I think a lot of the disconnect I feel with the events of 9/11 have to do with being Canadian. I think Americans felt deeply threatened, especially since the targeted sites were of such national importance, and in their home territory. For me, this is one of many disasters affecting the "rest of the world". If it had happened in Canada, I imagine my answer would have been very different.
-Lee
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