/slight hijack/
I was listening to David Brenner talk about how New Yorkers aren’t fazed by anything (pre 9/11 obviously).
One can be walking down a street and a manhole cover will EXPLODE right off the hole. BOOM! and it flies into the air.
A true New Yorker will say “Heads”.
/slight hijack/
I was right with you, mainly because I DON’T HEART NEW YORK, and in fact, they have a great t-shirt here in Chicago that says “NEW YORK SUCKS” 
but of course, no one would dare wear one anymore dammit.
But when you brought up the FDNY stuff, I just wanted to clarify…that I accept that more because “SUPPOSEDLY”, according to my firefighter Uncle (sigh…firefighters) every purchase of official fire department paraphenalia goes to their charities for widows and orphans. So wearing FDNY and NYPD stuff actually MAKES a difference. I still think it’s sort of a weird fad, as if these people JUST THIS YEAR realized that firefighters and cops put their lives on the line every day they go to work and all of the sudden they’re heroes, but hey. To each their own.
J
by Wolfian
No, it’s not a big deal. It’s just an observation like the other 90% of the posts on this board. Yes, I do think that this is just a fad or at least that’s what I’m worried about. I also have a feeling (I hope I’m wrong about this) that people are doing it more as a fashion statement and to be trendy and not because it affected them personally. That applies more towards the FDNY and NYPD apparel though.
by jarbabyj
[bolding mine]
The problem is, the shirts I see being worn are the same ones that I see on the tables and in boxes of vendors. When they’re being sold on the street (along with the I [heart] NY t-shirts) for $2 or $3 the FD and PD aren’t seeing any of that money.
How about:
I Heart New York style pizza.
:rolleyes:
The I [heart] NY shirts were available pre-9/11. I bought Gunslinger one at the Albany airport gift shop. The campaign just got another boost after that Tuesday.
Tons of New Yorkers were them since 9/11. They’re not just for tourists.
After 9/11, the guy who designed the “I [heart] NY” logo redesigned it as “I [heart] NY more than ever” with the heart slightly burnt at the edge. The posters were given free to businesses and appeared in shop windows.
By the way, the John Lennon shirt says “New York City,” not “I [heart] NY.” You can buy them too.
My daughter asked me the other day to buy her an NYC hat. I have no objection to doing so as I understand that for her it’s a “rememberance” thing.
But shit I wish someone would issue “official” rememberance pins or ribbons or something else which those wishing to simply say “I remember” on the day could wear without getting into this extreme over-commercialisation of “the event”.
The simplest things - a sprig of rosemary, a poppy, a piece of red ribbon - have become powerful symbols of solidarity and rememberance in the past. We don’t need for this to become a status symbol occasion. And the media seems hell-bent on turning it into “an event” (for those of you who missed the footage last year, it’s not only being replayed this year but we also get to see the “never shown before” home videos shot by 118 NYers).
The commercialisation is GROSS here in Australia. I would hate to think what you’re dealing with over there in the US.
What do you mean by “affected them personally”? I wasn’t in New York (though I do love it), and no one I know personally was really hurt by the attacks, but I certainly have been personally affected by it. Every day I feel far differently than I did before I watched those towers fall (on TV, not in person). Is that wrong? Do I have to pass a six-degrees test before I’m allowed to express grief outwardly?
And as far as people making a buck off of flags and such, I really have no problem with it. Those assholes struck at the epicenter of world capitalism, and people have responded in admirable capitalist form: “Let’s make some money.” Don’t feel comfortable with it? Don’t give them your money.
That said, the media (of which I am a member) are definitely, garishly overdoing it. As Jon Stewart was saying (more or less) earlier tonight, “I’d have no problem with a gentle reminder of the events if I hadn’t been forced to relive the entire thing every single day since it happened.”
(Final note: Let’s not forget that all the major TV and cable networks lost something like $100 million a day by not showing any advertising at all for about four days after the attacks.)
And let’s also not forget that every single one of the major networks - in my country at least - has cut sponsorship deals for this year’s “coverage”.
So they lost 4 days advertising last year. The specials have ALREADY started here - a full week before the anniversary.
On the day it’s 24 hour “coverage” of the re-run - commercial-free, but we’ll thank our sponsors every half hour.
So they lost money because they didn’t show their regularly scheduled programmes? Give me a fucking break. They made money from the live feeds to networks around the world. You don’t really think that we all sit here every day in Australia watching live feeds from CNN on every free-to-air commercial network do you?
September 11 last year was the biggest rating show since the death of Diana. It’s just kind of sad that the viewing public isn’t treating the re-runs with the absolute contempt they deserve.
How 'bout the guy selling Bin Laden Actions Figures on eBay?
Personally, if someone wants to buy an I [heart] NY t-shirt, because of 9/11, I say let it them. Better to have the events of 9/11 overhyped than totally forgotten. (The folks who survived the OKC bombing didn’t get nearly the level of support the survivors of 9/11 have gotten, even if we do tend to forget that the Pentagon got hit as well.)
Bugger - the post before Tuckerfan’s was made by ME, not by Judi. I HATE sharing computers sometimes…
I don’t get it. From the picture it seems to be saying " I fly NY" which isn’t particularly offensive. Now, had the little plane been crashing into a building, I could see how it could be considered a parody…