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Where were you - a meme taken from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_alethea
1. When John F. Kennedy was shot? (November 22 1963) I wasn't born yet.
2. When John Lennon was shot? (December 8 1980) I was at boarding school, and I was in bed in the dormitory because there was a flu epidemic going round. I didn't, in fact, have flu myself, but epidemics were always a good opportunity to sneak some time off. I remember Claire Davis and Laura Someone-Or-Other were there as well, and I had my radio on, as I usually did. The DJ (I think it would have been Steve Wright, who was on Radio One in those days) announced that they'd heard a rumour about about John Lennon being shot, but they didn't know any details - it was a couple of hours before we found out he'd definitely been killed. He'd released a comeback album, Double Fantasy, earlier that year, which everyone was saying was the best thing he'd done in years. There was a single from it in the charts at the time, Starting Over, which took on a nasty irony after that day.
It says something about my priorities, I suppose, that this is my clearest memory from this list.
3. When Mt. St. Helens blew? (May 18 1980) I would have been at boarding school - I vaguely recall seeing something about it on the TV news, so I suppose it must have been half-term or holidays or a weekend home... I don't remember much else.
4. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded? (28 Jan 1986) I remember seeing the news on TV and being shocked. I was out of school by then, but still living at home. I don't remember what was going on in my life at the time apart from that.
5. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco? (July 10 1989) Still living at my mother's, at St Luke's Road. I think I may have been working forwatervole at the time? I know that was around the time I first met John. I remember seeing it on TV, and being worried that this might be the one that sparked California falling off the edge, and worrying about my father's sisters and their families in San Mateo. I remember pictures on the news of cars crushed under flyovers whose concrete columns had collapsed. Bad, very bad.
6. When the Berlin Wall fell? (July 11 1989) Watching, fascinated, on TV news. I had a postcard of the Wall that a former lover had sent me - I looked at it differently after that. I knew someone, later, who had a chunk of the Wall itself. They'd gone to Berlin to join the celebration and snagged it themselves. I would have liked one. Apart from that, I remember my mother's cousin Kathleen (who lived there) laughing on the phone that now that Berlin was overrun with Trabants, hers wasn't the smallest nastiest slowest car on the roads any more.
7. When the Gulf War began? (Jan 16 1991) Living at St Luke's Rd, married, but not yet living together because John couldn't get British Rail to transfer him from Waterloo to Bournemouth. John was very incensed and bitter, and spent his free time making satirical clip art about it - there was one titled "Raising Old Glory In the Gulf" which showed a bunch of soldiers planting a flagpole - John had altered the flag to show the Shell logo...
8. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco? (17 June 1994) St Luke's Road still, and I watched the whole thing live on Sky News. It was four in the morning, but I was going through one of my nocturnal phases at the time - it was the best way of holding onto some precious solitude in a house full of my mother and sisters.
9. When the building in Oklahoma City was bombed? (19 April 1995) I must have heard it on the news, but I don't recall it at all.
10. When Princess Di was killed? (August 31 1997) John and I were working as early morning cleaners at a pub on the seafront, and our supervisor came in and told us about it. She was distraught and going on about how beautiful Di was and how much she loved her. John and I met each other's eyes and refrained from saying anything sarcastic at the time, but on the way home we rolled our eyes at the prospect of the nationwide saccharine mourning orgy we knew would come. It turned out even more hysterical and over the top than we'd anticipated - it was amazing.
11. When Bush was first announced President? (July 11 2000) Eight months after John's death. I was still at our flat in Victoria Road, and I was still in shock. I probably heard about it on the radio, because I never switched the radio off, but I didn't care at the time.
12. When terrorists knocked over the World Trade Center (9/11/2001) This was during the height (or rather, depth) of the bad years for me - I was homeless, staying in a squat in Lansdowne. I heard about it from overhearing people talking on the street, and read the story in a newspaper a day or so later. I could tell that it was a big deal for the rest of the world and I remember thinking that there would be lasting consequences - but it seemed very far away from my own immediate day to day concerns at the time.
lady_alethea1. When John F. Kennedy was shot? (November 22 1963) I wasn't born yet.
2. When John Lennon was shot? (December 8 1980) I was at boarding school, and I was in bed in the dormitory because there was a flu epidemic going round. I didn't, in fact, have flu myself, but epidemics were always a good opportunity to sneak some time off. I remember Claire Davis and Laura Someone-Or-Other were there as well, and I had my radio on, as I usually did. The DJ (I think it would have been Steve Wright, who was on Radio One in those days) announced that they'd heard a rumour about about John Lennon being shot, but they didn't know any details - it was a couple of hours before we found out he'd definitely been killed. He'd released a comeback album, Double Fantasy, earlier that year, which everyone was saying was the best thing he'd done in years. There was a single from it in the charts at the time, Starting Over, which took on a nasty irony after that day.
It says something about my priorities, I suppose, that this is my clearest memory from this list.
3. When Mt. St. Helens blew? (May 18 1980) I would have been at boarding school - I vaguely recall seeing something about it on the TV news, so I suppose it must have been half-term or holidays or a weekend home... I don't remember much else.
4. When the space shuttle Challenger exploded? (28 Jan 1986) I remember seeing the news on TV and being shocked. I was out of school by then, but still living at home. I don't remember what was going on in my life at the time apart from that.
5. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco? (July 10 1989) Still living at my mother's, at St Luke's Road. I think I may have been working for
watervole at the time? I know that was around the time I first met John. I remember seeing it on TV, and being worried that this might be the one that sparked California falling off the edge, and worrying about my father's sisters and their families in San Mateo. I remember pictures on the news of cars crushed under flyovers whose concrete columns had collapsed. Bad, very bad.6. When the Berlin Wall fell? (July 11 1989) Watching, fascinated, on TV news. I had a postcard of the Wall that a former lover had sent me - I looked at it differently after that. I knew someone, later, who had a chunk of the Wall itself. They'd gone to Berlin to join the celebration and snagged it themselves. I would have liked one. Apart from that, I remember my mother's cousin Kathleen (who lived there) laughing on the phone that now that Berlin was overrun with Trabants, hers wasn't the smallest nastiest slowest car on the roads any more.
7. When the Gulf War began? (Jan 16 1991) Living at St Luke's Rd, married, but not yet living together because John couldn't get British Rail to transfer him from Waterloo to Bournemouth. John was very incensed and bitter, and spent his free time making satirical clip art about it - there was one titled "Raising Old Glory In the Gulf" which showed a bunch of soldiers planting a flagpole - John had altered the flag to show the Shell logo...
8. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco? (17 June 1994) St Luke's Road still, and I watched the whole thing live on Sky News. It was four in the morning, but I was going through one of my nocturnal phases at the time - it was the best way of holding onto some precious solitude in a house full of my mother and sisters.
9. When the building in Oklahoma City was bombed? (19 April 1995) I must have heard it on the news, but I don't recall it at all.
10. When Princess Di was killed? (August 31 1997) John and I were working as early morning cleaners at a pub on the seafront, and our supervisor came in and told us about it. She was distraught and going on about how beautiful Di was and how much she loved her. John and I met each other's eyes and refrained from saying anything sarcastic at the time, but on the way home we rolled our eyes at the prospect of the nationwide saccharine mourning orgy we knew would come. It turned out even more hysterical and over the top than we'd anticipated - it was amazing.
11. When Bush was first announced President? (July 11 2000) Eight months after John's death. I was still at our flat in Victoria Road, and I was still in shock. I probably heard about it on the radio, because I never switched the radio off, but I didn't care at the time.
12. When terrorists knocked over the World Trade Center (9/11/2001) This was during the height (or rather, depth) of the bad years for me - I was homeless, staying in a squat in Lansdowne. I heard about it from overhearing people talking on the street, and read the story in a newspaper a day or so later. I could tell that it was a big deal for the rest of the world and I remember thinking that there would be lasting consequences - but it seemed very far away from my own immediate day to day concerns at the time.
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