I remember the news only speculating a terrorist attack very slightly before the second plane. Before 9/11, a "terrorist attack" was not the conclusion everyone jumps to like it is now. Sure if it was a bomb everyone would assume terrorist, but a plane hitting a building? No, pilot error.
I remember being at work listening to my local morning radio show, bubba the love sponge. He was just doing his morning routine and stopped just for a second to mention a small plane had crashed into the WTC. They joked a little about how bad a pilot needed to be to hit a building in NYC.
As minutes go by, reports became more clear that this wasn't a small private plane. Next, it was supoosedly a dc-10, then finally, a 747. Things got more serious. He stopped his routine to go back to the news. People at my work started sneaking into the front office to catch some glimpses of what it looked like on tv. Now, this was a full scale air disaster and there were people still trapped in the flaming building, yet, still, how could this have happened?
It was only as everyone started becoming glued to the radio and tv that the second plane hit. The moment for me was like watching the final scene of the sixth sense for he first time but on a much larger scale. Time seemed to stop has the epiphany hit me. My brain slowly processing over that second that time was standing still, that this was a major attack.
Then came the rest, United 93, the Pentagon getting hit, the towers finally crashing down. One new tragedy at a time, coming in relentlessly over the course of a couple hours. Our entire staff of 100+ at our job were huddled around radios and tv for the next several hours.
Along with the new events came even more speculation and false reports. I can't even remember them all. Supposedly there were still dozens of hijacked planes still in the air, schools were going to be attacked or already rigged with explosives. People started frantically leaving to get their kids. One of our complete asshole managers was going around the shop telling people to get back to work, no one listened.
When it was time to leave and go home, I still remember the pure mental exhaustion from the days events. I drove home feeling like a zombie. Looking at every person in traffic, every staff at every store, everyone had that same look of complete exhaustion and sadness. No one spoke. The world seemed so much quieter, but you knew in New York it was the complete opposite.