this post was submitted on 17 May 2025
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Bill seems like a good guy. I read the article hoping that he would mention that he has a brother called Tom.
Quite interesting seeing how everyone reacted at the time.
When I woke up to the news, my first thought was "oh great, that's 24/7 news coverage for the next month at least. We're not going to stop hearing about this for years"
Might have underestimated things a bit.
Definitely wasn't expecting 25 years of what feels like constant coverage, infinite conspiracy theories, the invasion of multiple countries, and the death of literally tens (hundreds??) of thousands of people.
Also wasn't expecting just how much of an impact it had on security - and not just at airports. We work at the airport and access is such a major pain in the butt now, but even going to ports or train stations has this constant fear that a bloke carting a bag of tools is there to do some terrorism instead of the far more reasonable expectation that maybe they're here to do that job we requested. It's been a quarter of a decade ffs.
"We can't let the terrorists win" was the catch cry, but man they kicked our collective arses and are still doing so.
As a kid (12 years old) in the U.S., the division of eras that occurred on 9/11/01 was clear and immediate.
Adults acted very differently, starting that day. They went from being confident and in-control, to scared and uncertain. Teachers didn't know what to say to us. Some of the school staff openly wept. Everyone was really lost, and U.S.ians have been seeking a strong leader to guide them ever since.
Flags were everywhere. Everywhere. I know for foreign visitors it's hard to imagine there being more U.S. flags around the country than there already are, but it really was ridiculous. A neighbor and I used to see how many cars we could get to honk, just by standing on the side of the main road and waving flags.
It was like a hive mind took over the populace. Nationalism took hold in a way I had never seen before. Any disagreement with U.S. policy was now considered "unAmerican" and was likely to compel someone to say, "If you don't like it, you can leave (the country.)" (No, it doesn't make sense. It never made sense. I can't explain it, I was just a kid that got told it for disagreeing with George W. Bush.)
Anyway, there was a clear, undeniable shift in culture that happened on 9/11/01. It's wild to see the same people twist around over the course of 20 years, going from flying into a rage at the thought of someone criticizing the U.S., to actually agreeing that the U.S. is falling apart (even if we disagree on how or why.)
Not feed into any of the conspiracy theories, but if anyone ever wanted to quickly control an entire countries populace, this would be a great way to do it.
"Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling."
Two possibilities here; either the country was under attack, and not only did this guy decide it was a good time to go bowling, but the bowling ally decided not to close for the day, or; this guy bowled at least one full game before 8:46 am. Not sure which is weirder.
Or started the game before then and decided to finish anyway. Or started before then and was too in the zone to hear about news.
"Hey Earl, they just hit the pentagon. Maybe someone should tell Bill?"
"Look, he's at 260. Unless they get the White House, I say we let him have this."
Bill does for us in the bowling alley what G.B. did for those kids in the classroom.
My money is on everyone being distracted so he took the opportunity to walk to the end of the lane and keep knocking over all the pins by hand.
I was in college in Texas when it happened. I don't remember anything closing.
All of my classes kept to their regular schedules.
Interesting. I grew up in NYC, so obviously, everything shut down. We were kept at school (high school), but they gave up on teaching before noon, and everyone needed to be picked up by an adult (which was frustrating for me because I lived two blocks away).
I live in Massachusetts now, and most people recount something similar; not as severe, but school was let out early and their parents left work early. Maybe it was because some of the hijackers left from Logan.
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The event was used as an excuse to take away more of our freedoms. Like the War on Drugs.
We are running out of things to take. What will be demanded when the well runs dry?
Freedom of thought.
This is the second best day of my life!
Sir. A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.
This is the best day of my life!
"40 Wall street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually before the World Trade Center the tallest, and and then when they built the World Trade Center it became known as the second-tallest, and now it's the tallest And I just spoke to my people, and they said it's the most unbelievable sight, it's probably seven or eight blocks away from the World Trade Center, and yet Wall Street is littered with two feet of stone and brick and mortar and steel ..."
Trump on 9/11.
Yes, he was always narcissistic scum. NYC tried to warn everyone else.
Their warning was absolute proof to the south that he must be their messiah.
No other possible reason for NYC to talk shit about him.
7 10 splits don't melt wooden pins
I won an online digital photography contest that day.
Are we sure this didn't happen in one of the many countries that write their dates properly?
Shit... I never thought about it. Do other countries have bowling? Like, I know the game/sport is derived from various previous games/sports throughout history.
But bowling in its current American form, is that played a lot else where? And if so, how do those top tier american bowlers i see on the ocho stack up? I guess I know what internet video rabbit hole im falling down tonight.
I'm in New Zealand, we have tenpin bowling here, and I believe the rules are the same as in the US. I'm pretty sure it's a popular game around the world.
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I don't live in the US and within the distance of a short walk, there are no less than three bowling alleys near me. One is public, one belongs to a bowling club and I don't know about the 3rd one.
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There is a small theater monologue to be written about this event.
No 7-10 splits there!
"dear god, what have I done!?"
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