I really don't know if I should get into this or not, but I'll throw in my two cents I suppose.
Kirjava: Maybe the average american doesn't know any of those 3,000 people, but this attack did happen on our land, our home. This feels personal whether or not we live in NY, DC, or PA. And Rowe is actually a great example, he lives in NY. There's a fair chance he might have known one of those 3,000 people. Edit: ninja'd on the Rowe living in NY bit.
Chris Hardwick: I thought you were 5-10 years older than me, haha. I was a freshman in HS when the whole thing happened. I was talking from one classroom to another, it was during the ISTEP testing (standardized state tests). Pretty sure they cancelled the rest of the tests that day (but I'm not sure). I just remember being in my study hall room and watching it on TV, then in another class room after lunch watching it on TV.