My 9-11 Experience at the State Fair
Where: Hutchinson (United States). When: on 11-09-2001.
Written at 15-05-2012 by Anonymous
Labels - 9-11
3640 Reads
On September 11, 2001, I set out for the state fair together with my family. It was just another normal day, but an exciting day, because going to the Kansas state fair was a once a year event, and I always enjoyed it. We arrived quite early, and went to watch the horse show. As we watched the horses walk around the circle with their different gaits, all of a sudden, we heard an announcement on the over loud speakers: “The World Trade Center has been attacked.”
We were stunned. My mother thought at first it was a radio drama, like H.G. Well's War of the Worlds radio drama on Halloween night in 1938. Could something this stunning be true? How were we to interpret what we were hearing? However no break came. No announcer announced that this was a merely a drama. We soon realized that this was the truth.
As the truth of this event dawned upon us, we wondered how it might change our lives. Would we still be able to buy gas? Would life as we now knew it cease, or go on as normal? We had no idea. We could only guess, we could only imagine what life would be like.
The events on the fairgrounds continued on like usual, but underneath, there was a deep sense of grief and uncertainty. The food we had entered in the competitions was judged, just as in years past. We went to an alligator show, but somehow, the normally exciting events of the fair did not hold the same fun as usual. In each building, television sets that normally ran videos of whatever each booth was trying to promote now played these tragic events over and over again. We watched the news broadcasts showing the airplanes flying into the trade center, and the trade center collapsing. We heard the news reporters telling the sad story over and over again, and wondered what would happen.
Finally we left the fair and went home, realizing that we had just lived through a momentous and tragic day, and unsure what the future held for us. As it turned out, our lives were not changed as much as we thought they might be. Gas prices did not sky-rocket as much as they could have. A major world war did not break out. Yes, we did have to pass through more security than usual in the airports. We could no longer go to the gate to see our dad off, as we had previously done when he left for business trips. Our lives continued much as before. However for many, that day did deeply change their lives. Some lost loved ones, never to see them again in this world. In other countries, lives were forever affected by the war on terrorism that broke out. Although more than a decade has passed, we still are reminded of this history-making day through the flags and increased American patriotism.
We were stunned. My mother thought at first it was a radio drama, like H.G. Well's War of the Worlds radio drama on Halloween night in 1938. Could something this stunning be true? How were we to interpret what we were hearing? However no break came. No announcer announced that this was a merely a drama. We soon realized that this was the truth.
As the truth of this event dawned upon us, we wondered how it might change our lives. Would we still be able to buy gas? Would life as we now knew it cease, or go on as normal? We had no idea. We could only guess, we could only imagine what life would be like.
The events on the fairgrounds continued on like usual, but underneath, there was a deep sense of grief and uncertainty. The food we had entered in the competitions was judged, just as in years past. We went to an alligator show, but somehow, the normally exciting events of the fair did not hold the same fun as usual. In each building, television sets that normally ran videos of whatever each booth was trying to promote now played these tragic events over and over again. We watched the news broadcasts showing the airplanes flying into the trade center, and the trade center collapsing. We heard the news reporters telling the sad story over and over again, and wondered what would happen.
Finally we left the fair and went home, realizing that we had just lived through a momentous and tragic day, and unsure what the future held for us. As it turned out, our lives were not changed as much as we thought they might be. Gas prices did not sky-rocket as much as they could have. A major world war did not break out. Yes, we did have to pass through more security than usual in the airports. We could no longer go to the gate to see our dad off, as we had previously done when he left for business trips. Our lives continued much as before. However for many, that day did deeply change their lives. Some lost loved ones, never to see them again in this world. In other countries, lives were forever affected by the war on terrorism that broke out. Although more than a decade has passed, we still are reminded of this history-making day through the flags and increased American patriotism.