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Jinjer 36: Post-millennial Pregnancy


samurai_sarah

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Born in '96, and I think I'm considered a millennial but on the cusp of  Gen-Z (although I feel like 16 and 17 year olds are from another planet. No way are we the same generation). 

I remember Messenger, dial-up connections, VHS, all the weird early 2000s toys. I didn't have a smart phone until college and my first phone was a Motorola Raz-r when I was 12. 

I'm not American and I was only 5, but I vividly remember 9/11. I know exactly where I was standing; in my parents room watching TV and seeing planes fly into buildings. A lot of my friends (many of whom are a year older than me because I went to college at 17) don't remember 9/11 though. 

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@onekidanddone We were living in Manassas at the time of 911. I had just had a baby and my mother in law was staying with me as my husband had returned to work that day, in Fairfax. We watched it all unfold, She and I picked up my 7 year old from school because we were scared, and one of the moms in the office picking up her child said her husband worked at the pentagon and she hadn't been able to reach him yet. Never heard what happened. Scary and such a sad day.

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So I remember my teacher crying at her desk but they didn't tell us anything until I think it was closer to going home (I was in 2nd grade so born in 93). I actually didn't learn until later that day that there was a crash in PA (about 45 minutes away from me). I just remember being scared and confused but the next day talking to my little team table about our feelings ( we did it on our own, before class started).

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With 9/11 it didn't even hit me that it was real at first. I remember being in my first hour class and my teacher flipped the TV on, and all I registered was "oh no, a plane crash." I got to my 2nd hour and the reality hit hard. All we did at school that day was watch the news. I lived in a town with an air base nearby that locked down and my friend who lived there stayed with my family for a few days until he could finally go home. 

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9/11 felt like a dream. Well, a nightmare really. 

I was not quite 21 and an air traffic controller in the air force. We had just gotten the morning rush of planes out for training off when we started getting messages from the FAA that there was a full ground stop and all the planes needs to land. Within a few minutes of that happening (and talking to really confused pilots that needed to dump fuel to land) the sirens on base started going off signaling an attack. We could hear the "giant voice" coming over the speakers but we had no idea what was going on except it was bad and we were too busy working to find out. As we were working we were getting bits and pieces from the FAA controllers. We also had to help direct civilian pilots to a nearby airport and makes plans of what to do if that airport ran out of space (could we land them at our airport, what about security, etc...) Shortly after the last plane was inbound we were briefed on what happened and someone found a TV to plug in and got it to work and we just all stood there in total shock for a bit. Then we were sent home to rest so that we wouldn't have crew rest issues if we were needed for the mission. I lived in the dorms at the time and I had a private room but shared a bathroom. The girl I shared a bathroom with was intelligence and was packing to leave when I got back so I helped her pack and then called my family and my now husband who was stationed at a different base. 

It was especially hard for friends and coworkers that were from New York and Washington. It is just so hard to be away when you feel like you are needed at home. 

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'94 baby here.  My family and I live in the Midwest and aren't very into watching sports, but strangely enough, the first newsworthy event I remember seeing on TV was France's 1998 World Cup victory and the second is the 2000 Olympics (specifically watching swimming). 

The third event, however, is 9/11.  I was in second grade and I had never heard of the World Trade Center prior to that day.  At least one of the towers was hit before I left for school that day and I remember watching news coverage while getting ready for school.  I also remember flipping through all of our channels (we didn't have cable, so it wasn't that many) and seeing the same shots of the buildings burning on every channel- even channel 3 through the static.

The only thing I can remember about going to school that day is recess when I was discussing the event with one of my classmates.  His mother, a lunch lady, came up to us, admonished me for discussing it, and took him away to talked to him about it instead.  

I also remember the extreme patriotism that arose post-9/11.  The ice rink I took lessons at would play "I'm Proud to be an American" almost every week.  I even felt compelled to pick American flag skate guards over other colors and patterns.  I actually still use those skate guards to this day.  They're incredibly beat up after 15+ years of sitting on skates, but they bring me to such a specific time and place in my childhood that I can't bear to part with them.

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I feel so old, my kids were born in the 90s! but I know there are other FJites born before me.

I love that I have no idea how old anyone is until they say it outright - having the common ground of being here means age really doesn’t matter. 

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Houston, Texas kid here.  My first vivid memory of a significant event was Hurricane Carla in 1961.  (His news coverage of Carla was where Dan Rather got his start in broadcasting.)  We were huddled in our house in the dark w/ only candles for light, and it sounded like the roof was going to blow off at any second.  Hurricane Harvey last year was the "Carla" everyone had feared for over 55 years, that once-in-a-lifetime hurricane that stalls just off the coast & sucks up the Gulf before hitting land & dumping it all.  Harvey outdid itself by dancing on & off the coast 3 times, twice in TX & again in LA.

Then the JFK assassination when I was in 1st grade.  The teacher was called out of the room & came back a few minutes later, visibly upset & explained "something terrible" had happened.  We were sent home early that day.  First U.S. presidential election I remember was Johnson vs. Goldwater in 1964.  I was a little too young to remember JFK vs. Nixon in 1960.  All the Watergate stuff, the Vietnam War, the MLK assassination & the riots in some cities.  We inadvertently traveled to Memphis the summer of 1968 & stopped for the night at a motel.  The motel restaurant was closed early, so stupid us, we piled into the car & drove around until we finally found a diner that was open.  By the time we returned it was dark, and the ONLY vehicles on the streets besides us were police cars, each w/ two officers, the ones on the passenger side holding rifles across their chests.  I guess they saw the Texas plates & knew we didn't know what was happening, and one of them pulled behind us & followed us back to the motel.  Turned out one of the big activists of the time... maybe Malcolm X (?)... was scheduled to come to town that night & stir up trouble.  We noticed the streets were littered w/ glass & bricks from an earlier riot.

I remember the 1972 Olympics when the Israeli athletes were murdered, and I voted for the first time in 1976.  I remember where I was when I heard Elvis had died in 1977.  The O.J. trial provided hours of daily entertainment while I worked during 1994 (for myself so I had that luxury).

We didn't get a TV until I was 4 or 5, and for the longest time I associated it w/ death & losing teeth!  I think two popes died in short succession during that time, and then there was the JFK procession... all of which seemed to be on all 3 channels all day & evening for ages.  I remember standing in the middle of the living room yanking more than one loose baby tooth out while watching whatever was on the (B&W) TV.  My parents didn't get a color set until I was well into college.

Got my first "real" computer in 1989 although I'd done computer programming beginning in 1973.  This was back when you wrote your own code & used a teletype machine & then later punched each line of code on 80-column IBM cards, & handed them to the guy in the ice-cold computer room where your cards were fed into the computer & your printout was spit out an hour or two later.  One single mistake, and you had to find & correct it & run it again.

Saw my first electronic calculator some kid my senior year in HS had.  Bought Texas Instruments' first trig calculator, the SR-50, right after HS graduation.

Got a cell phone (the size of a small brick) sometime in the '80s.  Hardly ever used it.  I'm pretty tech savvy today but still use a 6 1/2-year-old Android smartphone that works just fine, TYVM.  No way am I spending $1000 for a cell phone!  Besides, part of my job is repairing Apple iPhones, and I've seen "how the sausage is made," so to speak.  YMMV, but I hate Apple w/ the fire of a thousand suns, although the few shares of their stock I own have done well.  :)

My first car was a 1968 Mercury Montego purchased in 1976 from my grandparents who'd purchased it new.

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I remember finding about 9/11 (I was 12) but since I am in Europe it did not feel that big at the beginning. I remember my parents being very worried but I never heard of the WTC/Twin Towers before. To me, it was not that different than any other major-news-far-away. Although later on I started to realise that it was actually also a big thing for Europe.

Half a year later a major rising policitician here got shot and killed when he walked out of a radio interview. That is the first time that I remember that I was truely shocked by news the moment it came in.

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5 hours ago, Jinder Roles said:

Born in '96, and I think I'm considered a millennial but on the cusp of  Gen-Z (although I feel like 16 and 17 year olds are from another planet. No way are we the same generation).

I’m the same as you. I don’t understand my friend’s siblings at all. We didn’t have wireless internet till I was 15, I got my first smartphone then too and only because I was an only child and my parents could afford it (and it was cheap and barely worked - I miss it though). I feel like those just a year or two younger than me are from a different planet, literally growing up on social media. A lot of the 12 year old girls I know of look so much older because they follow beauty gurus and copy their makeup. I could never have afforded the stuff they’re using!

Despite being the same age, I didn’t remember 9/11 at all, I wonder what causes some people to remember. Mum thought I might remember the total eclipse or the millennium and I don’t remember those either (Except brief flashes of a millennium street party). My earliest memories are all personal ones - mostly at nursery or my grandparents’ house. 

I remember 7/7 a lot better. Living so close to London, my dad worked there (for the government, as well, so I panicked about him) and a lot of my friends’ parents did too. I only travelled on buses for years because I’d only seen the underground attacks, not the bus ones. Must have been a nightmare for my parents, you cannot travel around London on buses. Now I think about it, Mum worked in an airport, still does, wonder if she was on shift when 9/11 happened, it must have been terrifying.

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Things like the Millenium or Eclipse were not shocking. They were introduced beforehand and therefore did not have the shock effect that made all adults talking about it. If you were not old enough to learn about it in school it makes sense that you 'miss' these events.

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I used to think parents were nuts about saying they knew exactly where they were when Kennedy was shot. But I will never ever forget 9/11. I was at work. Had gotten into the office and someone at the next cube said there had been a bomb at the WTC and we assumed truck bomb. But then couldn't get more information. None of the news agency/websites would pop up or be refreshed, internet was so slow.

We all ended up going into a conference room and putting it on the big screen and watching. I will never forget the guy who worked for me turning to me and saying "Where did the other tower go? There were two - there is one. Where is the other?" And another friend turning to me with tears running down her face.

And we were sent home. I also remember a few days later - after days of no-fly zones - hearing a helicopter at 3 in the morning. Can I just tell you that NOTHING wakes me up at night. My baby crying, cat vomiting - that's it. I don't hear either alarm clock etc. I sleep hard. And that helicopter woke me out of a dead (pre baby) sleep and I called my now-husband. I don't think I went back to sleep.

And as for "I knew it would change everything" - I absolutely did. I absolutely knew there had been a seismic shift in the world. And I remember the next few days at work feeling awkward because everyone was wearing flag pins - everyone. And I didn't. I'm not big on displays and I felt pressured into wearing one. Which also felt like a shift. "You WILL be patriotic"

Everything changed that day.

 

My first REAL political memory was probably Regan being shot. I was in the first grade and I sent him a picture I drew. I got a letter back. (born in 74)

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I was in college for 9/11 at NYU and just got out of subway, and was walking down the street where I saw the whole thing unfold. We were in panic, couldnt get back home, I had friends who worked either in recovery or at the morgue where they were identifiying the bodies. My brother in law was also in the twin towers just recently started a new job when the planes hit. His manager was one of the few who told everyone to get out versus to stay and wait for further instructions.

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I had just turned 31 when 9/11 happened, I was home with my 2 kids who where almost 4 and 18 months, I was sitting on the couch folding laundry and watching the news while my kids played in the 3 yr olds room. I was fixated by the TV, horrified, sad, scared, panicked.  My friends husband worked in the Pentagon at the time, and my dad was on a plane out of Chicago to NYC at the time. It was a few  hours before our friend finally heard from her husband, he wasn't in the part that was hit but was close enough he heard and felt the impact and my dad was forced to land somewhere in Indiana. She grew up in Boston, and sadly new 2 people on two of the planes. I put up a brave face for the kids because they were far to young to understand it, and all I could think of was what kind of world had I brought them into. And we live in Iowa and it hit me pretty hard, but I was older and had very small children.  

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I was asleep on the morning of 9/11–I had a class at 10:30. One of the women on my dorm’s floor knocked on the door and my roommate let her in. She said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Like a lot of people here mentioned, I was thinking that a Cessina or similar had hit it and it was an unfortunate accident. The women said, “it’s really bad,” and I jumped out of bed. I did not wear pants to bed that night, and was in just an oversized t-shirt, but I remember at that point it wasn’t important. Only our RA had a television, so all 20 of us were crammed into her room watching as the second plane hit. I think that’s when it really registered that it wasn’t an accident and was deliberate. I ran back to my room and called my then-boyfriend (still feel guilty I didn’t call my mom first), and while I was on the phone, the lines went down. The college I attended had everyone meet in the non-domination chapel, and we did a very general “prayer,” for lack of a better word, and a few students stood to talk about their feelings, etc. I recall that one of our international students said that this was just a small taste of what other countries go through every day, and while that’s true, it did not go over well. They cancelled class the rest of the week. 

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6 hours ago, potato said:

'94 baby here.  My family and I live in the Midwest and aren't very into watching sports, but strangely enough, the first newsworthy event I remember seeing on TV was France's 1998 World Cup victory.

I remember France winning the World Cup in 1998 because I had said to my dad earlier in the tournament that I thought France would win and I was supporting them. Everyone thought I was mad for thinking they would beat Brazil. France 98 was also the last time Scotland qualified for any football tournament. 

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9/11: I was 15 when it happened.  Ironically, it was "Hat Day" at my high school, and I was wearing my Dad's Army hat.  I remember telling a friend, "Well at least my Dad can't deploy without his hat."  Like many, we watched the news all day (I recall being in my morning French class, then when it was over at 9AM, walking into the hallway, and just knowing something was wrong based on the silence.  As I was walking to my next class, a friend came up and told me what happened - I also remember friends and I praying in our 2nd class, in a corner).  

It was an almost overwhelming feeling, because I had happened to be IN the WTC tower six weeks earlier for a summer field trip.  Another friend (who had been on the trip with me), and I, wondered if all the same people we saw that day had died.  

At just after noon, I was called to the office, and saw my history teacher (who happened to be a Captain in the National Guard), and my Dad standing a few feet apart from each other, separated by a desk that the secretary was sitting at.  She was naturally scared and was talking to the teacher trying to get some reassurance.  She had her back to us, and when she turned in her seat, and saw my Dad (who had arrived in full uniform), she began to ask him if our country was under attack - if we were going to be okay, what this all meant, etc.

Until that moment, I still had hope that this was all a mistake - that there was some other explanation.  That my Dad wasn't going to get called away.  We had just adopted two of my three brothers, and still were going through the process of adopting our third.  We lived through deployments when I was little, this wasn't supposed to be happening.  I was naive, and optimistic.  I looked at my Dad, and watched him so calmly reassure her - and then when the secretary looked down, sighing in relief, I caught the look my Dad and the Captain shared.  A look that said that nothing my Dad just said was true.  And yet my history teacher understood why the lie was necessary.  To keep the civilians calm while they were going away to head to their base.  And it was then I realized we were f-ed.

For me, 9-11 marked the end of my childhood like nothing else.  The beginning of the end.  

Sorry to be a drag.  I'll post something more positive next time!  

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@Fun Undies, no need to apologize for your post!   I hope we all understand.

9/11 is far from my first memory. I first became aware of the planes hitting the WTC when my daughter called me from college. She was a frosh.  My husband’s grandmother lived in a high rise near the Pentagon and saw this jet flying outside her 6th floor window.   She did live near National Airport,  but she’d never seen something like that.  Yep,  that plane was on its way to the Pentagon to crash into it.

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So this kind of just got me thinking since we've been talking about memories on 9/11 but like for almost 30 years my parents have kept newspapers of every major public event/ sports so we have this huge stack that every once in a while I go through to see how that certain event was received as and reading what else was going on. We still do it to this day!

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2 hours ago, Fun Undies said:

9/11: I was 15 when it happened.  Ironically, it was "Hat Day" at my high school, and I was wearing my Dad's Army hat.  I remember telling a friend, "Well at least my Dad can't deploy without his hat."  Like many, we watched the news all day (I recall being in my morning French class, then when it was over at 9AM, walking into the hallway, and just knowing something was wrong based on the silence.  As I was walking to my next class, a friend came up and told me what happened - I also remember friends and I praying in our 2nd class, in a corner).  

It was an almost overwhelming feeling, because I had happened to be IN the WTC tower six weeks earlier for a summer field trip.  Another friend (who had been on the trip with me), and I, wondered if all the same people we saw that day had died.  

At just after noon, I was called to the office, and saw my history teacher (who happened to be a Captain in the National Guard), and my Dad standing a few feet apart from each other, separated by a desk that the secretary was sitting at.  She was naturally scared and was talking to the teacher trying to get some reassurance.  She had her back to us, and when she turned in her seat, and saw my Dad (who had arrived in full uniform), she began to ask him if our country was under attack - if we were going to be okay, what this all meant, etc.

Until that moment, I still had hope that this was all a mistake - that there was some other explanation.  That my Dad wasn't going to get called away.  We had just adopted two of my three brothers, and still were going through the process of adopting our third.  We lived through deployments when I was little, this wasn't supposed to be happening.  I was naive, and optimistic.  I looked at my Dad, and watched him so calmly reassure her - and then when the secretary looked down, sighing in relief, I caught the look my Dad and the Captain shared.  A look that said that nothing my Dad just said was true.  And yet my history teacher understood why the lie was necessary.  To keep the civilians calm while they were going away to head to their base.  And it was then I realized we were f-ed.

For me, 9-11 marked the end of my childhood like nothing else.  The beginning of the end.  

Sorry to be a drag.  I'll post something more positive next time!  

You have no need to apologize. It’s a very sad and tough topic for so many people, especially those related to the victims and those with family who served in the military. Thank you so much for your father's service and for the sacrifices you and your family must have made because of it. :romance-caress: 

On a lighter note, I do remember watching Kerri Strug stick her landing like a goddamn boss at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I was 8 at the time and was watching with my parents and siblings. We all lost our minds when she landed so solid, even my dad. 

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31 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

On a lighter note, I do remember watching Kerri Strug stick her landing like a goddamn boss at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I was 8 at the time and was watching with my parents and siblings. We all lost our minds when she landed so solid, even my dad. 

I was going to say that Atlanta was the first Olympics that I remember. I remember it for Donovan Bailey's badassness in the 100m final! What a memory. :) 

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I remember being in college when Nancy Kerrigan got hit in the knee. I remember I was either recovering from exams or was on some pain killers, but I'd fall asleep and wake up and it was all over the news. Then I'd fall back asleep and it was STILL all over the news. (I think it happened in Detroit and my university was about 50 miles north).

Same thing with the Oklahoma bombing.

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8 minutes ago, Meggo said:

I remember being in college when Nancy Kerrigan got hit in the knee. I remember I was either recovering from exams or was on some pain killers, but I'd fall asleep and wake up and it was all over the news. Then I'd fall back asleep and it was STILL all over the news. (I think it happened in Detroit and my university was about 50 miles north).

Same thing with the Oklahoma bombing.

I remember her attack also. I was in 8th grade a big fan of figure skating, I also remembering feeling terrible for her. 

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Back to the strict line for generation naming for a minute (I am behind!)

I was born in 1968 and Mr. Fortress was born in 1964---that technically makes him a Baby Boomer and me Generation X.  I teased him a lot, but he actually seemed to be bothered by it.  :(

The thing is,  I have come to believe that there must be some sort of real dividing line.   5 kids in my family--the oldest two girls born in '63 and '64 (so, Baby Boomers) and the youngest two born in '67 and '68 (with a boy in '65 . . . so, all Gen X)  Anyway,  as close as we are in age, there were some real differences. 

  • My oldest sisters always wore dresses in elementary school, and their Brownie/Girl Scout uniforms were mini dresses.  By the time the youngest two girls were in Brownies, the uniform had changed to pants.  And we certainly wore pants to elementary school. 
  • Same with Pep  Club--before my time, the girls wore short mini skirts, but starting my year, we changed to (hideous) overall pants. 
  • Youngest two girls also had more non-gender specific toys, including (gasp) boy dolls! 
  • Older two girls wore sanitary belts & the younger two only had the stick-on kind of pads . . . (Thank Rufus!)
  • They took Home-Ec & we didn't

Just a couple examples . . . seems like the women's movement of the early 70s influenced a lot of these things.

I also see it in my kids, too--born in 1998 and 2002.  The younger one has always lived during a war, with internet, smart phones, etc.  Maybe it is because my family is always a little technologically behind, but the older kid definitely remembers life before everything became e-something.

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