I'm coming out swinging

It has come to my attention that any day determined to be used as a reasonable excuse specifically to make money can qualify to become an American holiday. September 11th has the framework of a holiday. It would probably be in everyone's interest to shut down Wall Street for the day, and call the day a federal holiday. The president has already deemed 9-11 Patriot day. Great! Now do us all a favor and shut down the economy for the day.


Here's an example: Are you going to find a big retail sale on 9-11? "Com'n down to Billy B's for our super September 11th sale! All electric shavers 20% off!!", see it just sounds bad. Fear will keep people at home. Those that have to work will be quietly doing what they can to avoid the subject. A tall bargraph statistic of people will find their way to the TV to watch all the "9-11 specials and tributes". I'm taking a lot of jabs against TV media for this special occasion, so you've been forewarned.

America remembers, and so does everyone that saw an opportunity to make money over the events of 9-11, be it from viewers and ads or memorabilia. Yes, it is those kind of people that are desecrating your country's flag.

Speak up, I can't hear you

Will anyone oppose the powers that be from turning 9-11 into a for-profit day? Most won't. They're afraid of the loud frail activist types that command unreasonable demands - those confused and scared individuals that represent millions with their ill-shapen impressions on camera. Now check this: your opinion on the matter has just been represented by some idiot, you've haven't been given a chance to be anything more than a statistic, and there's nothing you can do. Maybe it's better that way, because you could be just as bad, and someone else loses their opportunity to correctly represent. See, we all lose, unless you're an idiot. It can pay to be an idiot.


Lets take a couple more stabs. My company sent us (employees) an email: "...take a moment, in your own special way, during the day to reflect." Haven't you burnt the red white and blue out your retinas yet? I'll take a moment out of my day to reflect - right smack in the middle of a phone call - 'click'. When they call back I'll tell them we were disconnected by terrorists and I'm too sensitive to speak about the matter further. Send a guy home, let Solid Snake and Mario make it all better. Sooth your day of uneasiness with good old fashion sprites and polygons.


Once upon a time a less than clever story began

Now speaking about relaxation, how about taking a trip down to the fair. Yeah, I did that recently. Walking by some of the rides, there was a giant inflated (25 feet tall) half sunk Titanic replica. Give them your tickets, run up one side of the ship, slide/bounce down the other. Fun eh? So I casually walked up to the person running the ride and asked "So when does the WTC version come out?" Gawking with a humored surprised look, a jumbled unintelligible response followed. I guess making fun of tragedies is OK when all the survivors/witnesses are dead. Well I won't hold my breath for the WTC Disaster Drop ride, coming to a fair near you.


Osama bin Laden, is dead. No wait, he's alive. ..Wait he's dead again....No wait, the bastard resurrected himself. I get the feeling that people think he's just going to show up on the street corner with a rocket launcher. The great thing is that in our infinite faith we know that someone else will take care of the problem. All you have to do is help watch the news or hear the latest information third hand. You'll be patting yourself on the back when it's all over due to your hard work. We would have never pulled through without you. I'm sure if we collectively stare at the TV long enough, a Homing Beam of Death will wipe out and cleanse the terrorist threat. You can avenge the fallen by bitching, moaning, and complaining from the comfort and privacy of your own living room. Go ahead, give it a shot! See how much you've accomplished when you're through.


Who's side am I on anyway?

Taking a different perspective: I'll side with the media and politicians for a moment. The belief stands: if the people that you rely on don't make a big deal about a tragic event then obviously they don't care. Really, that's a tough position to be in. There's a lot of bad guys out there, but there are a few good guys. Does this sound strange? Foreign? Have we come to the understanding that power = corruption once and for all? It is a sad day, but the reasons may not be so obvious.


On the big screen, the WTC towers were both digitally removed and scenes refilmed for Spiderman, the movie. One of, if not, the most revenue making movie of all time - and it was almost scrapped because someone with a lot of power decided that you don't want to see the WTC towers. The next Lord of the Rings movie - "The Two Towers" yeah activists already made their submissions to change the name. It's not happening. FAILED. I saw the Spiderman trailer before the skyscrapers fell, and the thought of "those are the World Trade Center towers" never crossed my mind. The media kicked you in the balls again and promptly informed you that you were in a lot of pain, as if you didn't know.


The Real Deal

Unless the motive is tragedy, no one will talk without bias on disaster when speaking of the WTC towers. To tell you the truth, my knowledge of the towers was minimal at best before September of last year - and I know I'm not alone. Why do you think so many people are hurt so deeply when you say WTC? Because their knowledge of it's existence starts at the sight of a plane attempting a 500 MPH 1 point landing in the bosses' skyrise office with a nice view. There's nothing else to talk about! For that matter then, if the people didn't even know about the WTC towers prior to them being destroyed, then would it really be assertive to make Patriot day a federal holiday? Well, considering a pretty big chunk of people still understand that Easter was made for genetically gifted fluffy white bunnies laying colored hard boiled eggs, I guess the meaning of the day really doesn't matter. For businesses struggling to stay alive, another day off just means paying employees without reaping a return for said spent expenses. But if everyone is preoccupied with thoughts of past disaster on the mind, where's the productivity anyway?


I'll show you productivity. Lawn darts and frisbee at a big American cookout on a 9-11 afternoon. On this day, be proud to lounge in your lawnchair with a big greasy burger, because the fallen would have wanted it that way.



References:

Patriot Day - President Bush's official declaration



-Tadau