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I remember being told by a friend of my now-ex-wife that "hundreds" of planes had been "taken over" and would be crashed into state legislatures across the USA.

I remember being told by a friend of my now-ex-wife that "hundreds" of planes had been "taken over" and would be crashed into state legislatures across the USA. It's very difficult to keep a cool head during an overwhelming crisis, and the world trade centre attack drives home how easy it is to get lost in rumour and fantasy. That time period following the attacks was surreal. People were very scared of any plane noises, and a brown-skinned terrorist was imagined lurking around every corner. Then the anthrax attacks happened, and the DC sniper attacks too. It felt like the USA was paralyzed by fear, so I can at least appreciate the atmosphere that led to the "patriot" act and other rights-eroding laws. COVID-19 felt like a natural disaster to me, with effects that are bad but not from malicious intent (ignoring the actions of various groups, I mean). The WTC attack and subsequent terrorism felt different, as they were caused by humans to inflict fear and chaos on us. It's amazing to me how different those 2 events felt.

P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
That wasn't anywhere near my experience, are you sure you're not just a generally anxious person or live around those who are?
- macksd 4y ago
  I too recall seeing hysterical news cycles around that time. The reactions to the anthrax scares as mentioned: tons of people at Home Depot buying plastic sheeting and duct tape, etc. And the day of 9/11, I remember multiple people living in other states messaging me about a military target near me being a likely nuke target. Maybe I'm also around anxious people, but it really seemed to me that a certain level of hysterics was pretty widespread around this.
  - P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
    There was a lot of shock and anger, but not fear the way it's being described here.
xeromal 4y ago
I lived in a small town of less than 20,000 and two days after the attacks, a rock slide fell onto one of our buildings in the city. I remember many freaking out that we were under attack. It's hard for many people to realize how spooked everyone was when such an unprecedented attack took place. No one felt safe for weeks after.
IYasha 4y ago
> It's amazing to me how different those 2 events felt. Their ISO 9000 works - they're improving. :)

P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago

That wasn't anywhere near my experience, are you sure you're not just a generally anxious person or live around those who are?

macksd 4y ago
I too recall seeing hysterical news cycles around that time. The reactions to the anthrax scares as mentioned: tons of people at Home Depot buying plastic sheeting and duct tape, etc. And the day of 9/11, I remember multiple people living in other states messaging me about a military target near me being a likely nuke target. Maybe I'm also around anxious people, but it really seemed to me that a certain level of hysterics was pretty widespread around this.
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  There was a lot of shock and anger, but not fear the way it's being described here.

xeromal 4y ago

I lived in a small town of less than 20,000 and two days after the attacks, a rock slide fell onto one of our buildings in the city. I remember many freaking out that we were under attack. It's hard for many people to realize how spooked everyone was when such an unprecedented attack took place. No one felt safe for weeks after.

IYasha 4y ago

> It's amazing to me how different those 2 events felt. Their ISO 9000 works - they're improving. :)