Where were you when meme...
Mar. 27th, 2004 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusWhere were you when...
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963)
Before my time.
2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980)
In junior high. Someone came running into the classroom all excited, talking about a volcano. I thought they were talking about Hawaii. I was surprised we had a volcano so far north. It didn't become real until there was ash as far as Ohio.
3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986)
In high school. We had someone a couple grades younger who was in tears, who'd been following the Christa McAuliffe story slavishly. The sick jokes started quickly. *cringe*
4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989)
At a Buddhist monastery. We were especially concerned about the people who were crushed on that bridge and did pujas all night.
5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989)
I was involved in a bunch of Tibetan transliterations and really too busy to pay much attention. I sort of regretted that I hadn't seen the wall before it came down when I lived in Germany in 1985.
6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991)
The entire temple went into retreat mode. The Buddhists were very upset about this. A Lama asked the children "What do you think this war is about?" and a little boy said, "Pride."
7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994)
I went to extraordinary lengths to avoid the gossip about this, and to this day don't know what people are talking about when they mention a glove.
8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995)
I heard about it later in the evening and had a dozen theories about who the culprit was. I was sure it wasn't Islamic terrorists. I mean, why Oklahoma? It had to be someone from Texas.
9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997)
I was at work. Adam walked past my desk and said, "the last nice person in the world has been killed." I thought it was sad that she finally had some freedom and then this happened.
10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (4/20/1999)
Gosh, I don't recall.
11. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000)
Glued to the TV. Oh, did I swear. Then I said, "Oh, he can't too bad. I mean, all politicians are more or less the same."
Wow was I wrong.
12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001)
This is an interesting story. I was in sealed retreat on Salt Spring Island, just outside Vancouver. I was in a cabin on a cliff overlooking the bay, and was doing some pretty intense practice. Well, there I was on my meditation cushion and there was a bang. I decided I should go on with the meditation regardless, to not get distracted. About a half hour later I got up and found that the big picture had fallen over on the altar. I wondered if this had any meaning and then chided myself for being 'new-agey.'
Well... I came out of the retreat a couple days later and the monk Karma Lodro came out to greet me, "Wow! That was quite an earthquake, wasn't it? My altar was rocking all over the place!"
I said, "What earthquake?"
13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center (9/11/2001)
I worked for a huge multi-national corporation. I went to work as usual, and found my office building (it was the tallest in Seattle) buzzing like a beehive. Remember, this was only two years after the WTO riots, at which we were the center. People with walkie-talkies everywhere. Finally I met up with someone from the office, and she said, "The World Trade Center's been hit! There's been an attack." I confess I cracked up when I learned they hit the Pentagon.
I turned around to go home and practice, and I walked in... and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wildernessguru was watching on TV. He said, "It collapsed! I just saw it collapse!" And then the TV replayed it. I'm afraid I was in no shape to do any practice that day, watching as I recited mantras, dazed. Suddenly I remembered that my company had a headquarters in some tall building in New York. I called the library and asked them to look up the address. They were a quiet a minute, and read me the address for the World Trade Center. Three people I worked with in New York died, and the company as a whole lost 300 people.
15. When Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas. (1/2/2003)
I caught it on TV as the news broke.
Wow I'm, like, Buddhist or something.
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963)
Before my time.
2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980)
In junior high. Someone came running into the classroom all excited, talking about a volcano. I thought they were talking about Hawaii. I was surprised we had a volcano so far north. It didn't become real until there was ash as far as Ohio.
3. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded (1/28/1986)
In high school. We had someone a couple grades younger who was in tears, who'd been following the Christa McAuliffe story slavishly. The sick jokes started quickly. *cringe*
4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989)
At a Buddhist monastery. We were especially concerned about the people who were crushed on that bridge and did pujas all night.
5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989)
I was involved in a bunch of Tibetan transliterations and really too busy to pay much attention. I sort of regretted that I hadn't seen the wall before it came down when I lived in Germany in 1985.
6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991)
The entire temple went into retreat mode. The Buddhists were very upset about this. A Lama asked the children "What do you think this war is about?" and a little boy said, "Pride."
7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994)
I went to extraordinary lengths to avoid the gossip about this, and to this day don't know what people are talking about when they mention a glove.
8. When the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995)
I heard about it later in the evening and had a dozen theories about who the culprit was. I was sure it wasn't Islamic terrorists. I mean, why Oklahoma? It had to be someone from Texas.
9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997)
I was at work. Adam walked past my desk and said, "the last nice person in the world has been killed." I thought it was sad that she finally had some freedom and then this happened.
10. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates at Columbine High School (4/20/1999)
Gosh, I don't recall.
11. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000)
Glued to the TV. Oh, did I swear. Then I said, "Oh, he can't too bad. I mean, all politicians are more or less the same."
Wow was I wrong.
12. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001)
This is an interesting story. I was in sealed retreat on Salt Spring Island, just outside Vancouver. I was in a cabin on a cliff overlooking the bay, and was doing some pretty intense practice. Well, there I was on my meditation cushion and there was a bang. I decided I should go on with the meditation regardless, to not get distracted. About a half hour later I got up and found that the big picture had fallen over on the altar. I wondered if this had any meaning and then chided myself for being 'new-agey.'
Well... I came out of the retreat a couple days later and the monk Karma Lodro came out to greet me, "Wow! That was quite an earthquake, wasn't it? My altar was rocking all over the place!"
I said, "What earthquake?"
13. When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center (9/11/2001)
I worked for a huge multi-national corporation. I went to work as usual, and found my office building (it was the tallest in Seattle) buzzing like a beehive. Remember, this was only two years after the WTO riots, at which we were the center. People with walkie-talkies everywhere. Finally I met up with someone from the office, and she said, "The World Trade Center's been hit! There's been an attack." I confess I cracked up when I learned they hit the Pentagon.
I turned around to go home and practice, and I walked in... and
wildernessguru was watching on TV. He said, "It collapsed! I just saw it collapse!" And then the TV replayed it. I'm afraid I was in no shape to do any practice that day, watching as I recited mantras, dazed. Suddenly I remembered that my company had a headquarters in some tall building in New York. I called the library and asked them to look up the address. They were a quiet a minute, and read me the address for the World Trade Center. Three people I worked with in New York died, and the company as a whole lost 300 people.15. When Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas. (1/2/2003)
I caught it on TV as the news broke.
Wow I'm, like, Buddhist or something.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 02:02 pm (UTC)Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 02:25 pm (UTC)It's chinese All Saints Day or something. P00h, dead people.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 02:08 pm (UTC)*goes to do meme and work out how many she actually remembers*
Its rather depressing though :(
no subject
Date: 2004-03-27 03:36 pm (UTC)Icarus