Tag Archives: texts

Waiting for a refrigerator to be delivered to my apartment in Boston — that’s where I was on September 11, 2001.

Last night I was watching, appropriately enough, The Killing, on AMC, when tweets and Facebook status updates hinted of an upcoming presidential address.

I never dreamed it would be the death of Osama Bin Laden.

CNN’s John King remarked — repeatedly, I might add — that last night would be another moment in history where people would always remember “where they were” when they heard the news.

For me, it’s more interesting how.

In 2001, the television networks were my primary news source.  I sat huddled in my apartment, told to remain there by my employer and by the city of Boston, my television set my only real connection to the tragic events in New York City and Pennsylvania.

Last night, I learned as much on Facebook and Twitter as I did on the television networks.  Obama’s announcement at 11:35 served only as a more eloquent confirmation of what I had already gleaned from my own sources.

Bin Laden was dead.

Although I was alone on my couch in both instances — a decade apart — I definitely felt a real sense of community last night. Yea, Facebook!  Yea, Twitter!  Yea, Texts!

Bin Laden is dead.

‎“I have never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” — Mark Twain