I stayed outside and was listening to a tape in the car and when my dad came back out he said, "Hey, did you hear the space shuttle blew up?" My dad was always a practical joker and seeing what kind of tall tales he could sell so I dismissed it. I dropped dad off at home, picked up my friend and we went to the lake. We slapped the puck around for about five minutes when we both agreed that it was just too damn cold. Our spit was quite literally freezing before it hit the ground. We decided that outdoor hockey was a bridge too far on this day. We got back in the car to warm up, turned the radio on and heard the news.
I was born after the Kennedy assassination, and always heard people talking about remembering where they were when they heard the news.
Up to that date, I always wondered what kind of event would leave that kind of impression. After that date, I knew.
Yep, working for a Investment firm at the time, it came across the "ticker tape" machine, like an AP or Dow Jones news feed. The most traumatic "remember where I was" event, especially as a New Yorker was no doubt the 9/11 WTC attack.
I was in Madison, Wisconsin, working in the state government bureaucracy in a research role. One receptionist in our group was sick at home and phoned in, suggesting that people turn on a radio to catch the news. She also commented that rescue helicopters were heading out to pick up survivors. I lived nearby and went home at lunch to watch the television coverage. Once the video was seen the absurdity of “picking up the survivors” was clearly apparent.
Later that day I rode with the Wisconsin Secretary of Transportation and his staff to a long scheduled public presentation on a transportation project in Waukesha. We set up the room, tested the microphones, and set out stacks of handouts for the public, and waited for the pubic to show up. No one did. They were all glued to their televisions watching the Challenger disaster’s aftermath. We waited 30 minutes, still no one showed, so we packed up and went to an upscale restaurant nearby. When I saw the menu - I knew there was nothing on it that would meet the reimbursement schedules for travel expenses. Someone at the table nudged me and pointed out how great it was to travel with the Secretary. He always picked up the tab and none of the usual spending constraints applied. So we enjoyed an upscale meal in a nearly empty restaurant. The few patrons who were there were mostly crowded into the bar area where a single television was located.