9/11/01

We had just arrived in Budapest. We checked into the hotel, and I turned on the TV just to see what channels were offered (I expected German TV). Hopping through, I landed on what I thought for a split second was Die Hard. It was CNN. It took about 15 seconds to register what it was I was looking at, and I started shouting. It was mid-afternoon, and there didn’t seem to be many other people in the hotel. In any case, I don’t remember the reactions of other people except my wife and inlaws, who were traveling with us.

We were all very quiet that night. The hotel’s restaurant was very mediocre, and we had cold sandwiches. We ate quietly, stopping to utter thoughts about the implications of what we had seen in the afternoon on TV. Everyone was in a very somber mood.

Older folks talk about remembering quite clearly what they were doing when Kennedy was shot. I don’t think anyone who witnessed 9/11/01 (even remotely, on TV) will be able to forget it.

September 11, 2002 | Archived in Random Notes