work yet to be done

[threeplusfire]

Another teacher goes into space.

That means a lot to me, for reasons that don't really translate well. At least not yet. But I have never forgotten watching that shuttle go up, and explode into sparkling fragments and smoke. How we were sent home early from school, and the horrified sound of my teacher's voice behind me, saying "Oh God." All those years, all those sci-fi novels and all those dreams of the universe beyond our atmosphere.

Comments

[doctorno.livejournal.com]

There are four places I remember in that "President Kennedy was shot" sort of way:

1. The fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The worst hotel fire in Las Vegas history, it resulted in a complete reworking of our fire code, making it a model for fire codes across the US. I was walking out of the bandroom at Hyde Park Junior High School when I saw what appeared to be a giant mushroom cloud in the sky. "Oh, god. We've been nuked!" was all I could think.

2. The day Kurt Cobain was found dead, we were in Boulder, Colorado. My girl was under a tattooist's needle when a Rastafarian busted through the front door screaming, "Kurt Cobain is dead! Kurt Cobain killed himself!" The tattooist calmly lifted the needle, said "Bummer," and went back to work.

3. The day the Challenger exploded. I was walking from one PoliSci class to another at UNLV when students started rushing to the Student Union. I followed, arriving in the lounge to see hundreds of faculty, staff, and students crowded around a big screen set watching as the Challenger exploded into two careening vapor trails and rained parts of itself--and its crew--to the crowd below.

4. The day the World Trade Center was destroyed, I awoke in a hotel room in Disneyland, of all places, to the sound of Howard Stern saying that, for the first time in history, all air traffic had been grounded. I said, "What the fuck?!" and turned on the television set just in time to see the first tower collapse.

Sigh.

the day when

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

1. When was this? It probably shows how young I am, that I have not heard of it before.

2. Wow. That must have been odd. I remember walking home, and seeing a live shot of Cobain on the local news, and my phone ringing off the hook with people calling. I stayed up all night watching Kurt Loder.

3. Man. I was in kindergarten. They sent us all home early, and the afternoon kids didn't have to come to school at all.

4. I didn't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was sleeping late. I woke up because the phone kept ringing, and one of my roommates' mothers was calling over and over. She worked for an airline and was hysterical with fear. I'll never forget watching with the sound turned all the way up, wrapped in my bedspread. Later on I was driving in my car, and all the radio stations were playing the presidential address, and I just could not stop shaking.

Re: the day when

[radiumhead.livejournal.com]

I work in an office at a bike messenger company.I remembered we had to stay open on 9/11,not because there was any work,but relatives of the messsengers were calling to see if any of them were going into the wtc that morning (which messengers in nyc had to do CONSTANTLY.)None of them were hurt.

Re: the day when

[sykii.livejournal.com]

I'll never forget that Kurt Loder cried.

Re: the day when

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I know. That was the saddest damn thing in the world that night. I remember sitting with my girlfriend, who had tears running down her face, rocking her and watching MTV. I remember him looking straight into the camera and saying "Don't do it."