Here’s What I Was Doing on September 11th, 2001

Although September 11th doesn’t hold-much personal importance for me[1][2] — unlike reducing college graduate under-employment, and ending police abuses of WisDMV driver-condition reports — I’m blogging-about-it today for the views. And really, few people outside “Ground Zero” — Wisconsinites or otherwise — would care-about events in New York City or the Pentagon, were-it-not for the constant drum-beat of “news reporting” about the subject.[3]
Today, I share my memories of where-I-was — and what I was doing — when reports of the 9-11 attacks reached the airwaves. This takes-us-back 20 years before today; 10 years before kicking-off my “lost decade” in La Valle;[4] and 1 year before-I-began community college![5]
My senior-year, Tuesday-morning Journalism class, taught by Tim Larson,[6] had begun by 8:50 a.m. Central Standard Time.[7] I handed-in my “News and Views” report, which I described-as, “Hot-off the press! Because I literally just-printed-it, in the library.”[8] We then-commenced discussing differences-in-emphasis among various media.[9]
Before fifteen minutes had elapsed, Ralph Schlass[10][11] — then-Assistant Principal for West High School[12] — walked-into the room; turned-towards Mr. Larson; and said: “Excuse me, but there’s something happening on the news. Let’s set-up the TV; and let’s-all watch it.”
Amid the students’ murmuring,[13] Schlass left to tell-other-teachers of the history-in-making, unfolding in the mass-media. A few-more-minutes elapsed, while Larson pulled a tall-cart to the-front-of the classroom; connected the auxiliary cable to the wall-jack; plugged-in the power-cord; switched the monitor-mode from “VCR” to “AUX,” while the television monitor teetered-atop a plastic rack, more-than-six feet above the floor.
Soon, the screen flashed-onto local-access station, Channel 2: Our impromptu television had begun! Seeing-only a test-pattern, Mr. Larson turned-the-dial onto Channel 4; whereupon, we were-regaled-with images of two flaming skyscrapers, narrated-by anxious commentary from off-camera reporters.[14]
As-soon-as Mr. Larson flipped-off the light switch[15] while students packed-away their notebooks:[16] Presumably, my peers believed they wouldn’t-be-quizzed on whatever we-would-see on the news — well, they guessed correctly!
The students’ chit-chat subsided from a steady hum, to sporadic whispers. Wanting-to-remember this moment, I glanced-around[17] and memorized[18] whoever I could see, and hear, in the dimly-lit classroom. (Mr. Larson didn’t assign seats.) To my left, sat Clayton Roy[19]; to my right, nobody;[20] and directly-behind-me, Molly Kirschner.[21]
Our TV-watching occupied the remaining half-hour of class. Mr. Larson remained in-the-room, alert-to-his restless students while mentally analyzing[22] the information that was streaming-into his classroom. Some students murmured more-audibly, as the same footage broadcasted several-more times; with the fast-talking news anchors baiting-the-viewer with promises of “late-breaking information.”[23]
Finally, the end-of-class bell chimed[24] at noon; and almost immediately, everyone slid-out-of their desk and stood-up. As I wriggled-my-arms through the straps of my backpack, I sauntered into-line to leave the classroom. The students’ conversations grew-into a hum: From sound-bites around me, I could discern the big “buzz” among our student-body was not-how our civil liberties might-be-curtailed[25] to “prevent” further attacks; but-whether the East Coast disaster would allow Midwestern high-schoolers an early-day release. (Not-for the West Bend High Schools: No, sir!)
I’ve further memories about how-the-day unfolded: From the latter-half of my school-day; to arriving-home and discussing these events with my parents and Grandpa; to watching news coverage from unlikely sources.[26][27] However, my depth-of-detail demands that I end-my-article here; lest, I write-a-chapter of my autobiography as a mere blog-post!
—Footnotes—
[1] Neither is nine-eleven important to rural municipalities, who aren’t-even-bothering to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attacks. Whereas, many urban and suburban governments -are- commemorating September 11th for political grandstanding; because they actually have newspaper reporters — I hesitate-to-call them “journalists” — covering their meetings.
(I tried-out-as “local-government beat reporter” for about five years — evenings only, while packing cheese as my “day job” — only-to-find no newspaper wanted-to-publish my reports. And my Dad threatened to kick-me-out-of his house if I blogged about local government — “They’ll burn-down -my- house, because -you’re- living here!” — so hopefully, he doesn’t object too-much to this footnote. I just-thought the extra context would make-sense.)
[2]Perhaps, 9-11 is less significant for the small number-of-people who died — mostly, upper-income commuters from Manhattan; and some local emergency-response personnel — than-for the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which Congress passed-in-response six weeks later.
[3] Scholarly research has borne-out the notion that, by-and-large, the mass-media dictates what-the-public cares about. Ignoring the “Apply Now” call-to-action on its “Bachelor’s in Communication” page (because job-placement is curiously -not- mentioned), I’ll nonetheless-quote Alvernia University (with enhanced hyphenation): “The more a story is publicized in the mass media, the more it becomes prominently-stored-in individuals’ memories when they’re asked-to-recall it; even-if-it doesn’t specifically affect them, or register-as a prominent issue in-their-minds.” (Such-as misfortunes that befall unrelated persons, half-a-world away.)
[4] Eventually, I will write-an-article about -what- I mean-by-saying “my lost decade in La Valle.” But-suffice-to-say: Unpleasant experiences build one’s resiliency, inner strength, and resourcefulness; even-if circumstances prove immutable.
[5] My “community college” was UW-Washington County, to-be precise. While I’m tempted-to-say, “Those were magical years,” I realize the whole experience was a glittery detour that delayed-my-development occupationally, socially, and intellectually. (With all apologies to my professors!)
[6] I might someday recount a more-detailed memoir of my-time-in Mr. Larson’s journalism class. To limit scope-creep, I’ve constrained this article to only-those-memories from September 11th itself. (To describe my-memories-of milestone anniversaries right-now, would bloat this blog-post. Someday!)
[7] Whereas, the East Coast — including New York City and the Pentagon — were already at 12:25 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Because the first airplane-to-tower impact occurred at 8:46 a.m. EST, this corresponded-to 7:46 a.m. CST. It also meant West Bend High Schools staff became-aware-of the attacks more-than-three-hours-after they commenced. (Otherwise, classes would-have-paused at 8:00 a.m., instead-of-at 11:25 a.m.)
[8] I usually printed-my-homework at one-of-the computer clusters in the East High School Library. (Although West High School also had computers in its Library, I liked the layout and color-scheme of East somewhat better. Of course, this was -traitorous-; because technically, I was a West High student!)
[9] While Mr. Larson didn’t go-as-far-as Marshall McLuhan — who infamously said, The medium -is- the message” — he emphasized-how broadcast media has-to-be more attention-getting, because there tend-to-be more broadcast-channels with competing shows, than-there-are competing newspapers. (Owing-to media consolidation, many “competitors” are actually-owned-by the same parent organization.)
And the main difference I see, is-that print media (including text-oriented online news) tends-to-include greater detail than-does non-print media. For instance, television and radio news often give-you the lede and a few-more sentences; and that’s it!
[10] As-with-most Assistant Principals, I had few interactions-to-remember with Mr. Schlass. (He-and-I coincided at West Bend West from 1999 through 2002.) But perhaps, the most-humorous is when my Grandpa Ohler picked-me-up from school during my sophomore year; and he saw Mr. Schlass looking-out from the curb of the southern side of West High. “Just between you-and-me,” remarked my Grandpa, “that poor guy looks-like Bill Clinton!” (As-if that resemblance would result-in random heckling — which it may-have.)
[11] Owing-to-his name’s pronunciation, many misspell Mr. Schlass’ name as “Schloss.” However, by including the spelling-variant in these footnotes, I’ll nonetheless-get search-traffic from those who misspell Principal Schlass’ name! (As-of today, this article is the only search-result when you Google
“Principal Schlass” — but not-so-much, when you search-for “Principal Schloss.”)
[12] Q) At West Bend West, what was Ralph Schlass’ rookie year? A) July 1999 – June 2000
Because I last-saw Mr. Schlass when he was an Assistant Principal, I had-to-look-up -when- he was promoted-to Head Principal of West Bend West. Looking-at Ralph Schlass’ LinkedIn profile, I see he was appointed Head Principal in August 2017. (Which, by inference, means former Principal Patrick Gardon had-retired-by the summer of 2017.)
Another difference — compared-with-what I remember — is-that Principal Schlass now-has-many articles written about him. (Perhaps, -this- article will find-its-way onto the search-results pages!)
[13] Somewhat-withdrawn at the time, I sat silently while life happened-around-me. Yet arguably, my burgeoning aloofness is what-allowed-me-to remember life’s events in greater detail, than-what some-of-my peers have related. (Upon my sharing-of-memories, it is typical for an acquaintance to remark: “How-do-you remember -any- of that?!?” To-which I reply: “When you see-significance-in everything, you remember everything.”)
[14] There are far-too-many news telecasts for me to sift-through and find the precise-one-which I saw that morning. Moreover, national news coverage of that event utilized the much-the-same footage; with the only significant differences being which news anchors were reporting and, to a slight extent, the timing-of-announcements relating-to developments.
[15] Although I could-have-written “he turned turned-off the light switch,” I chose-to-say he “flipped-off the light switch;” because it suggests a grown man “giving the middle finger” to an innocent electrical switch! (Anecdotal evidence suggests this imagery appeals-to-some segments of my audience.)
[16] I put-away my notebook -reluctantly-, as I was stoked-for-class: Mr. Larson made learning -fun-; because everyone expressed-themselves through their choice-of-articles and — more broadly — the language-arts involved-with paraphrasing the events depicted, in a somewhat-different manner that shifted the emphasis from what it-had-been originally.
Even today, I still write commentaries in-this-vein: See my immediately-previous post, “Reacting to Hometown Pharmacy’s ‘3 Back-to-School Lunch Recipes'”, for an-example-of my article commentaries. (You never-know-when I might respond to -your- article!)
[17] Because I was seated up-front-and-center, I could-only glance once in each direction without attracting attention. If I were farther-back or to-the-side; then, I could-have studied those-around-me; beyond my immediate-left, immediate-right, and the-seat-behind me.
[18] Having put-away my notebook, I didn’t have anything to write-on until my next class; which was actually Study Hall. (Although I well-utilized Study Hall for finishing my homework, I should-have-spent more time preparing scholarship applications: I write essays better-than I manage time!)
[19] Former West Bend West student Clayton Roy is not-related-to Wonewoc attorney Steven Roy. (West Bend is a long-ways-away-from Wonewoc!)
[20] There was always at-least-one empty seat next-to-me in every class that didn’t have assigned seating: Whether-in high school or college, any mutual class-taking — my being-with others in-the-same course, in the same period — was unplanned on-my-part.
[21] I’m sorry-that I don’t have a juicier footnote for Molly Kirschner; other-than we both attended UW-Washington County during the 2002-2003 academic year. Much-as-in high school, we had exactly-one class together in college: Modern Literature. (Whereas, in high school we took Journalism.)
[22] I was surprised Mr. Larson didn’t assign 9-11-related homework: “In your words, write an original news story summarizing the September 11th attacks. Be-sure-to articulate your lede about what actually happened; and save background information for later-in the article.” Perhaps, it was too-soon?
[23] Tragically, “late-breaking news” had-already-arrived, just-before our teacher turned-on the telly: Another airliner had crash-landed in a field near Shanksville, PA at-around 10:03 a.m. EST (11:03 a.m.), which was only 15 minutes before our Assistant Principal told-us to watch.
[24] In both the East and West High Schools, the schedule-bell was a solitary chime, like the first tone in a National Weather Service alert; but drawn-out over a few seconds. (I hadn’t heard a literal bell-ring to signify class-times, since I graduated from grade-school at St. Frances Cabrini.)
[25] Whatever your personal thoughts about their organization, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) prepared an undeniably informative summary of privacy rights before-and-after the Patriot Act’s passage.
[26] You knew September 11th was a “big freakin’ deal” when MTV interrupted “Total Request Live” to show news coverage, presented-by MTV staff. The most-memorable segment that I saw on “MTV News,” was actually a few weeks after 9-11: “Vee-jay” Kurt Loder narrated the deployment-of-troops to Afghanistan, while the P. Diddy song “Bad Boy for Life” played as a backing-track. (The reality-shows, however, were -not- preempted!)
Another “MTV News” segment I remember, was when another presenter (Gideon Yago, I believe) briefly identified those-among George W. Bush’s Cabinet Secretaries who were directly managing counter-terrorism agencies; interspersed-with-clips that alternated-between sound-bites of those directors and ground footage of soldiers patrolling Afghanistan. (Sadly, I could-not-find either clip on Youtube; let-alone, the sparser video-sharing sites.)
[27] I’ll finish-these-footnotes by speculating: If the 9-11 attacks had happened 10 years earlier; then, “MTV News” would-have-played the MC Hammer song “2 Legit 2 Quit” (which came-out-on September 5, 1991) instead-of the “Bad Boy for Life” song. (Which tune do -you- prefer, dear readers?)