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Saturday, September 10, 2011

Maybe we should forget...just a little.

So tomorrow is 9/11.

I know what happened. I remember what happened. It was in my lifetime.

In 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I wasn't alive. No matter how many times I see Jackie Kennedy flop around that car trying to collect her husband's skull fragments, there will always be a disconnect between me and that event.

I wasn't alive. It wasn't in my lifetime.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while we should always watch our backs and we should always memorialize those who perished on 9/11, I really don't need to see footage of people swan diving to the pavement below every year. I'm sure that the families of the victims don't really want to see that. If I had a family member who was shot in the head, I wouldn't want to watch gunshot videos over and over again.

I'm sure that every news agency will show the towers fall a thousand times tomorrow, and yet, I still remember it like it was yesterday without the visual reminder.

If the argument for showing it is to teach the young people what happened, then it all goes back to the Kennedy thing. People who were not born or who were too young to remember the tragic events of 9/11/2001, will never be affected by it the way we are. It's only natural. Time will always erase history to a point. I guess that's why we celebrate our nation's bloody battle for independence by eating hamburgers and hot dogs and running off to the beach.

Answer honestly: When was the last time that you cried your eyes out while watching Pearl Harbor footage? Probably never if you're under 60 or if you didn't have a family member who was involved in WWII

I"m all for remembering and honoring, but I just don't need to see the "towers fall" marathon over and over again.

Maybe just once, okay guys.

14 comments:

Brian Miller said...

i hear you man...and i echo...i really dont want to see it happen again...i am pretty well sick of the songs that came out about it...i do not mind connecting with the people though...their stories i think are important in as much as they are people...but there is a load of commercialization that is nausiating...

Brian Miller said...

see i really echoed...darn blogger....

Mike said...

If we didn't let go of things to a point then the world couldn't function. No one is running around today wanting to nuke Japan and Germany.

Lisa said...

hello Otin, I just want to let you know I read your post.

Anonymous said...

Amen Brotha! Amen!

It's got me feeling melancholy and of course, I'm horrified at what happened, but there are many things I'm horrified that have happened during my time on earth.

Fragrant Liar said...

I agree. This is why we were blessed with failing memories. So we wouldn't have to relive the worst tragedies that befall us. I will never forget that day or the people who perished, but I don't want to see the footage over and over again either.

Hope you're doing well, dude.

Unknown said...

I agree with you. I will Honor those who lost their lives and never forget what happened but I don't need to relive every moment of that day.

Pseudo said...

I agree with you Otin. I don't watch much broadcast news in general and especially tomorrow.

CiCi said...

You sound too healthy to be a true American.

Baino said...

Mike this is very interesting. I heard that there were 'celebratory' fireworks which to me sounded very inappropriate for a memorial day. It was a horrible day. I'll never forget the awful images of the Trade Cenre/s falling and I was a child when Kennedy was assassinated and remember it well. We need to be careful that we don't do what they do in the Middle East and make unnecessary martyrs out of such circumstances. What was it? 3000 killed . . .how many Iraqis, Afghans, and others have the Coalition of the Willing nailed since then? 1,033.000 as a result of the second conflict in Iraq. (Yes Australia is part of that Coalition) Don't get me started on Afghanistan . ..the love of my life was a soldier, with friends still in that arena and it's the most futile attempt ever. Remember it, respect it, pay homage to those who lost their lives and their families but don't glorify it.

ReformingGeek said...

Well said, Otin. I'm not seeking out much TV lately and ready very few blog posts on the subject.

Unknown said...

You expressed what I have been trying to put into words. It brings tears to my eyes to think of the lives lost but to relive it over and over again with each tv network, is a bit much. Of course, we will never forget...those of us who have lived through it.

Anonymous said...

I have this sick feeling that some people 'get off' on watching real life gory scenes like the two you mention, Otin, and we shouldn't pander to them!

Jo ~ said...

hey feller,

viewing that scene and reliving that horror is not for me; a true American tragedy, scares me still to know that terrorism is still alive and well, lurking...