Reply #46: So many bad days...

[Rhythm]

JFK: That happened before i was a twinkle in my dad's eye... indeed, before he and my mom even met. I have, however, been to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, and stood on that balcony. Creepy does not even describe.

Reagan: I was sitting in 'Bible class' at the church-run school i attended. The headmaster came over the intercom and asked everyone to stop what they were doing and pray. My friend Roger (who sat beside me) made jokes under his breath, and we both had to struggle not to laugh inappropriately. Earlier that year, it was in that same class with Roger when we heard about the assassination of John Lennon... glad Roj was there, because he was the only one who understood the hurt, when all of those self-righteous fucktards were almost rejoicing.

Challenger: I was in the student lounge at my community college, getting ready to go to my much-dreaded psychology class. The launch was on the TV in the corner, and everyone was sort of paying non-attention to it, when the worst possible happened. The room fell silent. No one could think of anything to say. Even my normally snobbish, too cool for the room psych prof was stunned.

9/11: I worked in a factory that made pre-fab cabinet systems for new homes, and had been on the job that morning for about 2 hours. My co-worker on that particular day was a guy named Gary, who every day wore a different proselytizing t-shirt, and punctuated every sentence with 'praise jesus'. I wasn't enjoying my morning.

Just before 9am (right before break), Gary told me that he had heard that a plane had hit 'one of them big buildin's in New York City'. I assumed that there had been some air-traffic control mishap, or something of that nature, said that i was 'sorry to hear that', and went to shut off the Jenkins saw that we were running. We walked into the break room (which always had the big-screen TV on CNN), grabbed something to snack on, and sat down to watch the news.

Right then, the second plane hit...

I jumped up from my chair, rushed over to the payphone, and called Oktoberain, telling her what i'd seen, and telling her to check the news online (since we didn't have a TV at the time). The rest of the workday was silent, except for the hum of the machines themselves. Well, and Gary asking me stupid questions about my belief (or lack thereof) in Heaven and Hell. I couldn't wait to get home.