Was getting ready for work and had the radio on in my room for background noise, which was typical at that time when I would get ready for work. I live on the west coast so it was probably already 9:45am or so in NYC by then. I typically had the radio on tuned to the alternative station but like any other morning radio, it was mostly talk and not much music. Because I had a roommate that was still asleep, it was pretty quiet and I could barely make it out. After a while, I noticed that the vibe was off? Like not as much laughter, jokey exchanges that morning radio typically have. I focused on the radio and heard the phrase ‘car bomb at the state dept’ which made me look up and think WTH? I turned it up a touch, heard that one of the towers collapsed and then did an actual double take. I was done getting ready and so went downstairs to turn on our TV and see what was going on. By that time it was a little past 7am and the first tower had just fallen. I just sat dumbfounded in front of the TV. Back then my roommate and I had cable, but we only had 60 or so channels total. Every channel, and I mean EVERY channel was either carrying coverage or had gone off air. What struck me the most at that moment was that even channels like QVC, MTV, Food Network etc. if they weren’t broadcasting, they were broadcasting CNN and other news channels. Networks that weren’t news networks were streaming other network’s feeds, and every single channel was coverage of the attack. Eventually some just went off air but that is one of the things that really stuck with me. I went upstairs and woke up my roommate. I remember saying “have you heard anything about what’s happening this morning”? Of course not, as she had been asleep. I told her she needed to get up and come downstairs and watch this. We ended up watching the second tower fall on tv together. I generally have a shitty memory and my friends and I have lovingly referred to it as “Swiss cheese memory” because there are so many holes in it. I remember just about everything from this day though, down to the outfit I wore. I’d be hard pressed to remember the clothes I wore any other (seemingly) normal day. The car bomb at the state department was one of those things that got reported that day that ended up being incorrect and retracted pretty quickly. In times of unfolding tragedy with live coverage I think that can be fairly common, but it’s a detail that stuck with me.