And I mean in like, The 2011 Japan earthquake where our days literally got faster, COVID because … Y’know. COVID. Etc.
What’s a time in your life you experienced something like that, when was it and what ended up happening to you?
9/11, 2008, MTHFR diagnosis, COVID shutdowns.
9/11. It was the only time in my life I saw newspapers publish extra editions.
For those too young, extra edition as in “extra, extra, read all about it,” when a news story is so big that the newspapers publish a whole nother edition later in the day.
Some assholes gave the US a bloody nose and America spent the next quarter decade trying to stop the bleeding by continuously stabbing itself in the heart
Way back in 2024. Things were bad, but then, in October, there was a tectonic shift in the US, when the impossible became reality. There was a limbo for a couple of months, but in January this year we (the US) was flung back into 1940, and since then the years seem to be going backwards.
From 1940, 1930, 1920, 1910, 1900 and looping back around to
^1984, ^^1984, ^^^1984, ^^^^1984, ^^^^^1984
COVID didn’t feel like it was going to change everything all at once at first to me. Lots of “2 weeks and it’ll be over” talk. Then reality slowly set it.
9/11 felt like all at once to me, same with the second Trump election. Like I woke up and things were different.
I had a crippling migraine. I thought I was going to die. I crawled to the bathroom and ran the tub, tears streaming down my face. I felt so weak, every movement made my head feel like it was going to explode.
I got my partner to grab me some water and Advil as I lay in the bath. I stayed there all night: head pounding, wishing I was dead, dreaming of drilling a hole in my skull with a power drill just to relieve the pressure behind my eyes.
Eventually, it passed, but it lingered for the rest of the week, consistent, though much less intense.
The following day, I got a call from my mother. She was worried about me. It turns out she’d had a dream that I had died in a bathtub, and she wanted to check in.
Later that day, I saw an article on quantum immortality, and remembered a part from the game Alan Wake, where a TV segment you can come across discusses the theory.
Essentially, at certain moments there is a quantum break, which creates alternate realities, where you, or you conciousness shifts to a universe where you are still alive, but also creating alternate versions where you die.
so basically,you never experience your own death
Sometimes I wonder if I did die in that bathtub. The world I woke up in only seems to be getting stranger and stranger each day.
Or perhaps not. Who knows? There are many mysteries in life. And to many, that’s what gives it meaning.
Who am I to question the incredible strangeness of existence? And who would I be if I pretended to know its secrets? …Evidently, nobody of consequence.
Horrible and weird experience aside, to anyone else reading this: That could have been a brain bleed or aneurism. Not that I’m a doc, but if you ever have pain that severe immediately go to a hospital.
you’re not wrong, in my case i just suffer from chronic migraines, have my whole life. MRI didnt pick up anything unusual, all general tests came back negative, by all defintions i have a “healthy” brain. i live in canada, and the former conservative government cut a lot from healthcare in our province just before covid, so now it takes forever to see a doctor or a specialist. im still getting more tests done, itll just take a while since im in no “immediate” danger, lol.
NDP are trying to re open some hospitals that were closed and build new ones now that they are in power. so hopefully it goes back to like it was before the cons, or maybe better. either way is fine with me, lol.
Hope your path forward is quick and you get a solution to your ails!
I was MASSIVELY hung over on 911 and had my cbc radio on as I exited my room. I thought it was a radio drama. It made everything go sideways and thought the world was ending for a bit.
was it really that big of a deal? i’m european and can’t really understand whether people want to make it seem like such a big deal, or whether it actually really had anything to do with most people’s lifes?
It was that big of a deal. I was in my early 20s and the event was devastating for multiple reasons. We didn’t understand what exactly was happening or why. Suddenly the country was being attacked in spectacular fashion at multiple locations simultaneously (it wasn’t just New York, it was also Washington, DC, then another flight that the passengers fought back so it didn’t reach the terrorists’ destination).
Whoever did this had planned super well and knew how to get us. We didn’t know who or why, what was going to happen next? Would bombs start blowing up in major cities? Was this a chaotic prelude to an invasion by another military? No option seemed impossible in those early hours as we watched the carnage live.
I don’t think it was the destruction of the building, but rather the implications of the inevitable maybe century to follow which would bring reduction in human rights, war, chaos, political upheaval.
One could argue that the political chaos were in right now could be traced back to 9/11. I was relatively young on the day, but still an adult who fully grasped the fork in the road this would take us down, and I was not wrong or overreacting.
It was our Franz Ferdinand.
I was just a kid and school was dismissed early and we were sent home without knowing why, but the rumor was that there was a terrorist attack (somewhere).
I got home being glad school was cancelled, and was shocked to see my dad and Mom both home from work (very unusual) and both very serious and scared, watching the TV of the building on fire. And then the second plane crashed into it on live TV. And then one collapsed. And then the other. And all those people died. There was a special service at our church. Lots of people came, lots of people were upset. Our pastor gave a sermon about tragedy and how God gave us strength to get through. Suddenly American flags were everywhere, with slogans like “Pray for America” and "Freedom isn’t Free. People were making magnets, tshirts, even 8½ x 11 color printouts we got from our school. I had it in my room for a long time.
And then our country was going to war with a completely different country that wasn’t related. And then with the country that was related. And there were anti-war protests at the high school. And the Patriot Act, and Bush/Cheney reelected…
I’d say it was the biggest world event of my childhood. COVID topped it in scale, but they’re the only two world events in the same category for me.
I mean the post was asking about a time you thought the world was ending.
I was 18. When I say hangover I mean coming down off some Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Lol so when I heard the radio being all shouts and people freaking out I definitely thought it was all about to go world war 3. Looking back obviously it wasn’t life ending for me but I’ll say, it permanently changed how north America treated air flights and media started getting crazier then. Things were different in North America after that.
What’s the biggest building in your nation’s largest city?
Knock it down killing everyone inside.
Big deal, or nah?
Well, while utterly terrible, that would pretty much only affect people here in our nation, that’s not something that would give the feeling that “the universe had just changed”.
Not american but I think it was the sense that war only happens far away for america, so 911 was a huge shock?
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The first time was the day I had a fight with my older brother and ran away from home. It was scary. I was not even 8. This was in Guangzhou, I only retroactively learned how common kidnappings are in China (caused by the One Child Policy… and yea my parents violated the rule and gave birth to me).
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The day when I first ride in a plane. It was to JFK airport NYC for immigration to the US. I barely remember a thing (I was like 8-10 at the time, I think?), but it feel so strange being lifted away from the ground. Felt like magic. This is probably the moment that defined my political views, my entire life. This is the moment the timeline has split. There’s probably a timeline somewhere I didn’t end up in the US for some reason, and probably ended up in prison for shit-talking the CCP.
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The day I moved to Philadelphia (about 5 years after arriving in the US). Similar, but less significant as literally moving countries. Although, my memories of this day is much clearer. I remember more of the 2 hour car ride than the 10+ hour plane ride. Philadelphia houses were much cheaper. In NYC you basically had to rent forever. Multi-family houses were terrible. Apartments in Guangzhou was also terrible (also no elevators lol). Feels like you have a “Base” for the first time. It was the first time I ever had a bedroom for my self.
Also: (This is a separate comment in case it violates rule 6)
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January 6th, 2021. I wasn’t alive during 9/11, but this is the closest thing I witnessed to 9/11. Death toll wise, obviously 9/11 is way worse. But in terms of democracy, this is one of the most significant indicators of the decline of US democracy.
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November 5th, 2024. We all know what happened. It was a tragedy. Was constantly checking the results and on 6th morning, I felt like my country is under hostile occcupation.
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