It's only the third of
September and I'm already sick of all the
9-11 anniversary hype. Whatever happened to tasteful, personal
remembrance?
I know that I'm in the minority here, but the attacks of last September didn't irreversibly change my life. I found jobs when I needed them. The arrival of my work permit and green card weren't noticably delayed. Granted, I haven't flown in the last year, but the security delays haven't been too long when I've dropped friends off at the airport.
Yes, a number of people died needlessly; the last thing I want to do is tarnish their memory. And I have friends who know people (note the present tense, thankfully) who worked in the World Trade Center. And yes, these people should undoubtedly be memorialized, but not by a fortnight of news specials, documentaries, "very special" episodes of sit-coms, commemorative plates, over-priced t-shirts and showings of the 1976 remake of King Kong.
If you want to remember the WTC victims and heroes, then go to a memorial service at your church, mosque, synagogue, coven, temple, town square or whatever. Pick a name of a random victim and donate some money to the charity of your choice in their name. Masturbate to a picture of Rudy Giuliani. I don't care. Just turn off CNN and MSNBC and don't let the media tell you how to mourn.
This w/u first materialized as a rant on my weblog -- http://omega.uta.edu/~gbr5097/ramblings.html -- but I thought that what I wrote would resonate with people, thus sharing it here. I'm sure it'll get downvoted to oblivion. Fuck it, I don't care.