I know we poke fun at 9/11 a lot, but as someone who lived in an NYC suburb and grew up with the towers as part of the skyline that I’d see on a daily basis, it’s extra eerie reading through this. I was a student in a larger NJ high school and we were sent home early because there was an assumed risk that our school could be targeted (also there’s no way anyone was going to get anything done for the rest of the day). I could clearly see the smoke on my walk home.

The frantic comments accurately depict the panic and confusion, as well as the anger and immediate urge to assign blame.