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Respected Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

The biggest shock to me was the presidential election of 2000 when I learned the electoral college overruled popular vote. I knew it in theory but having it enacted was a shock.

CBS Sunday Morning had an article/story about the polio epidemic. It started "we have been here before" then showed closed theaters, pools, etc.

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Registered: ‎03-29-2020

Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime


@goldensrbest wrote:

The op asked about this virus,and 9/11, if we are going to speak of personal major shock in our lives, mine was when my 27 yr old son died on the operating table.


I'm so sorry for you! 

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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime


@beckyb1012 wrote:

During the 7 weeks I went without seeing my grandchildren but talking on the telephone with them I was just heartbroken to hear my granddaughter say the word Corona.  I thought what five year old needs to have something like this in their life, or any of us.  One day I went to sit with friends and family at the cemetery since no chance of making them or them making me sick.  Sat in the grass and felt the sun and spring weather.  Then driving the long way back home saw a boy about 10 years old on his bike at the park wearing his mask.  It broke my heart that is his childhood. 


 

I think he was darned lucky his parents had enough sense to give him a mask, and that he had enough sense to use it. Doesn't break my heart at all. I feel sorry for people who, like a young friend, have lost loved ones they couldn't say goodbye to.

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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime


@noodleann wrote:


I don't mean this critically, but asking this now is like asking how one felt at 9:30 AM on September 11, 2001, when the planes had hit but before the towers fell. We are in a similar position with the pandemic and its effects. The terrorists' attacks were a horrific jolt, but this is a living nightmare and there's no way to wake up.

 


If you think it's so awful to ask, why isn't it too awful for you to reply?

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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

Between OP's 2 choices, I would say 9/11 because it was so sudden. Also if it had happened on an alternate Tuesday, my son would have been on the San Francisco flight. He worked in NYC at the time as an investment banker. His company's headquarters are in S.F. and he used to travel there every OTHER  Tuesday. Also, my brother was a civilian employee at the Pentagon. The plane hit the wing where his office was located but he, thank G-d, had left about 15 minutes earlier for a meeting on the other side of the building,several levels down. I was working at the time for Federal Government in Buffalo, NY and when the first plane hit my son called me, and while we were on the phone, apparently he was looking out of his office window and he saw the 2nd plane sail right into Tower 2. At that point, all the alarms in our building started going off and we had to evacuate fast, because we were a Federal facility and didn't know if we would be next. I never moved so fast in my life! I ran down 14 flights of stairs and honestly don't remember doing it! I will never forget that day. I could have lost my son and my brother. 

COVID may be bad, but I am retired now so frankly, my life hasn't changed all that much other than a few activities that have been cancelled. Really the only things I miss are going to restaurants and going shopping in brick & mortar stores. But that will change as things open up. 

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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

Both have made an impact on me. I live in NYC and in both I have know people who have passed away. No chance to say good bye is a horrible thing. 

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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

@GoneButNotForgotten @traveler @QueenDanceALot 

 

For me this virus is the scarier of the two. 
I equate it with my feelings about Ebola...as in ... the virus is taking over.😱

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime


@Nbo wrote:

Both have made an impact on me. I live in NYC and in both I have know people who have passed away. No chance to say good bye is a horrible thing. 


NYC just can't catch a break! It's so unfair. Such a great place.

When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
"Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

I worked in Lower Manhattan on 9-11, I was standing on the street when the plane hit the second Tower.  While it was devastating it really only effected a small area. The  pandemic is world wide

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive what could go right.
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Re: 1) which has had more of an impact...and 2) the biggest shock in our/your lifetime

[ Edited ]

Yes @goldensrbest , keep in mind one part of the question had to do with the biggest impact and one with the biggest shock. I gave my honest answer about the biggest shock because as a pre-teen, my friends and I were shocked - again, a totally different era.