# When do we stop wallowing in 9/11? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523 "2011-09-07T18:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/201 "2011-09-11T15:56:44Z")
In a remarkable moment in Pit history, everyone in a thread is correct. We are wallowing in this, because our American sense of exceptionalism demands that this particular tragedy be memorialized at length so we can cry over it repeatedly while not actually thinking about its implications. But don’t blame the media for this - if they weren’t covering it to excess, we’d be hearing cries of “why aren’t we talking more about this? how did we already forget? where’s Rudi Giuliani?” from the people who like to wallow. It **did** change everything, because without it Bush wouldn’t have been able to force consensus for the \>$1T cost of attacking Iraq, and because without it many of us wouldn’t be hating business travel as much as we do now, and because without it a lot of people would still be feeling completely invulnerable because they’re Americans. And those of you saying you can’t ignore it? Yes, you can. You ignore banner ads and commercials and billboards and suggestions you don’t like all the time. But because you have a stick up your ass about this particular issue, you get inflamed every time you see it. It’s a relationship you’ve formed with all these messages, not something exogenous acting upon you. So please stop whining about not being able to escape it. It’s not chasing you, you’re engaging with it. Oh wait. The guy talking about black and Jews seems a little crazy. Scratch the remark about everyone being correct. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/202 "2011-09-11T16:01:02Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > And those of you saying you can’t ignore it? Yes, you can. Bullshit. Example: I just went to the Duke basketball website to read a little about what’s going on with recruiting. [Take a look.](http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/) You cannot escape this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/203 "2011-09-11T16:03:34Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Bullshit. > > Example: I just went to the Duke basketball website to read a little about what’s going on with recruiting. [Take a look.](http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/) > > You cannot escape this stuff. Admit it, you’re obsessing about it. Did you even notice what the banner ad was on that page? how about on this page, right above our posts? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/204 "2011-09-11T16:09:04Z")
**Maserschmidt** , are you on Facebook? If so, what does your news feed look like today? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/205 "2011-09-11T16:17:41Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > **Maserschmidt** , are you on Facebook? If so, what does your news feed look like today? I am, **Spoke** , though I don’t go out there obsessively. People who go out there obsessively are often the type of people who like to connect on big days like this. But let’s go see! Item 1: Deadline Hollywood talking about Paramount 2012 film date. Item 2: a friend in China notes he just saw a guy riding a motorbike while carrying a baby. “I have now officially seen it all”, he notes, which is probably untrue. Item 3: a friend saying where she was 10 years ago. I had no idea she’d undergone fertility treatments! Item 4: a friend saying he was glad to say the Pledge of Allegiance today. Hmm. Not a fan of the pledge myself. Item 5: Deadline Hollywood again. Where are the deals in Toronto this year? And why aren’t they posting about 9/11??? Item 6: a local food company posting a picture of “Nature Day”. Item 7: my favorite soccer team posting new pictures from its latest game. Item 8: my favorite football team with a 9/11 post and picture. Item 9: a friend doing the “where was I?” thing Item 10: Sonic Youth posting a live song! Have to check that out. it doesn’t appear to be about 9/11. Of the next 10, 5 are somewhat 9/11 related. But since I often gloss over status updates, I’m not sure why I’m supposed to get my panties in a bunch about that. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/206 "2011-09-11T16:39:02Z")
It’s a tsunami of glurge, and there’s no escaping it. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/207 "2011-09-11T16:43:52Z")
Where the sentimental slope takes us: [QUOTE=[http://www.startribune.com/local/129595183.html](http://www.startribune.com/local/129595183.html)] What they’ve got planned in Newfolden will certainly be hard to forget. A non-military plane will buzz the crowd, followed by an unannounced explosion of fireworks, said Barrett, who leads the town’s Evangelical Free Church. Then more than 100 motorcycles will roar in, creating a “wall of sound to mimic the noise and the chaos of that day.” More than 30 ambulances “with sirens blaring will effectively catch people off guard. Whether we were watching on our television screens or at the actual sites, there was a sense of ‘we don’t really know what’s going on here’ that was overwhelming and that’s what we’re trying to recreate,” Barrett said. Why? “We want to educate the young people who don’t remember,” Barrett said. “We want to honor those who keep us free and safe. We want to unite, and we want to remember.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/208 "2011-09-11T16:50:41Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > It’s a tsunami of glurge, and there’s no escaping it. Except there is. I’ve been watching TV all morning while doing laundry, and I’d actually had to have sought it out to be deluged. Face it, you love to hate the tsunami. > [@tnetennba](#): > > Where the sentimental slope takes us: > > > [@](#): > > > > What they’ve got planned in Newfolden will certainly be hard to forget. A non-military plane will buzz the crowd, followed by an unannounced explosion of fireworks, said Barrett, who leads the town’s Evangelical Free Church. Then more than 100 motorcycles will roar in, creating a “wall of sound to mimic the noise and the chaos of that day.” > > > > More than 30 ambulances “with sirens blaring will effectively catch people off guard. Whether we were watching on our television screens or at the actual sites, there was a sense of ‘we don’t really know what’s going on here’ that was overwhelming and that’s what we’re trying to recreate,” Barrett said. > > > > Why? > > > > “We want to educate the young people who don’t remember,” Barrett said. “We want to honor those who keep us free and safe. We want to unite, and we want to remember.” It’d be one thing if people knew it was coming…just don’t attend if you don’t like that. But unannounced? That’s just fucking crazy. Someone’s going to have a bad reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/209 "2011-09-11T16:58:29Z")
All right, you guys have fun not obsessing. I’m headed out for Indian food…if the aloo tikki chaat arrives in the shape of two rectangular solids, I’ll be sure to let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/210 "2011-09-11T16:59:04Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Except there is. I’ve been watching TV all morning while doing laundry, and I’d actually had to have sought it out to be deluged. Face it, you love to hate the tsunami. I just gave you two examples of stumbling into glurge while going about a normal internet routine. (Duke basketball site and Facebook.) Next up I am going to watch an NFL game. I have no doubt I will be smacked with glurge there. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/211 "2011-09-11T21:48:12Z")
It is pervasive. NPR has been wall to wall coverage of it the 5 times I turned it on–didn’t matter the show or the time–it was THE story. I did also hear a brief bit about slave traffic in UK and Ghaddafi’s son in Niger, but then it was back to reading poems written that day and now, poems written 10 year on. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/212 "2011-09-11T21:55:05Z")
I hope you will all join me tomorrow as we begin to plan for next year’s remembrance ceremonies. 11th for 9/11. A very significant number! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/213 "2011-09-11T22:01:39Z")
Henceforth I plan to celebrate 9/12 as “Freedom From Glurge Day” ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/214 "2011-09-11T23:01:32Z")
It didn’t take me nearly as long as usual to read the comics, world news, local news, and editorial page of today’s paper since I skipped over all the 9/11 related material. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/215 "2011-09-11T23:09:03Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I just gave you two examples of stumbling into glurge while going about a normal internet routine. (Duke basketball site and Facebook.) > > Next up I am going to watch an NFL game. I have no doubt I will be smacked with glurge there. As I said repeatedly, if you’re sensitive to it, of course you’re going to see it. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > It is pervasive. NPR has been wall to wall coverage of it the 5 times I turned it on–didn’t matter the show or the time–it was THE story. On NPR? No way! Mysteriously, my day has been almost entirely glurge free. I’m about to watch E.T. with the kids, and am trying to remember if Spielberg updated it to show the bicycle flying in front of the Twin Towers. Hopefully not. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/216 "2011-09-11T23:22:59Z")
Sheesh. Ya’ll watch too much TV. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/217 "2011-09-11T23:43:35Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Sheesh. Ya’ll watch too much TV. I went to check my webcomic lineup today. Thankfully there was only one comic that decided to switch its white background to black and take time out from wacky hijinks to post a picture of two flaming towers, but it still seems rather a poor choice of venue. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/218 "2011-09-12T00:41:09Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I am, **Spoke** , though I don’t go out there obsessively. People who go out there obsessively are often the type of people who like to connect on big days like this. But let’s go see! > > Item 1: Deadline Hollywood talking about Paramount 2012 film date. > Item 2: a friend in China notes he just saw a guy riding a motorbike while carrying a baby. “I have now officially seen it all”, he notes, which is probably untrue. > Item 3: a friend saying where she was 10 years ago. I had no idea she’d undergone fertility treatments! > Item 4: a friend saying he was glad to say the Pledge of Allegiance today. Hmm. Not a fan of the pledge myself. > Item 5: Deadline Hollywood again. Where are the deals in Toronto this year? And why aren’t they posting about 9/11??? > Item 6: a local food company posting a picture of “Nature Day”. > Item 7: my favorite soccer team posting new pictures from its latest game. > Item 8: my favorite football team with a 9/11 post and picture. > Item 9: a friend doing the “where was I?” thing > Item 10: Sonic Youth posting a live song! Have to check that out. it doesn’t appear to be about 9/11. > > Of the next 10, 5 are somewhat 9/11 related. But since I often gloss over status updates, I’m not sure why I’m supposed to get my panties in a bunch about that. You’re lucky. When I looked at Facebook this morning, I had several folks all posting about 9/11, almost all of it “repost this” glurge, and one person who posted five separate posts to glurge about 9/11 all over my feed. This doesn’t include another couple of folks who have been posting 9/11 glurge all week. It gets quite tedious to have to wade through that to get to interesting content. The folks who are posting the glurge normally post interesting shit during the week, but apparently have decided to make sure that their most patriotic pair of panties were in a twist for the weekend. The only 9/11 coverage I’ve enjoyed today has been Regretsy and I can laugh at the inappropriateness of the jokes being made. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/219 "2011-09-12T01:39:48Z")
What a sad bunch of miserable misfits some of you weenies are. I’m starting to think this is more of a left vs. right political gripe more than anything else. You just don’t have the balls to say it. Telling people to get over it I’m assuming would apply to the people that lost loved ones that day as well ? It was a national tradegy for some Americans they can choose to remember it how they see fit. But you give them grief for doing it because it makes you sick because you have to watch a couple of days of coverage about it ? Ignore it. You can’t you say ? You’re not doing it right. A couple of days out of your life made you all stabby ? Boo-fucking-hoo. Either way, It’s over tomorrow so get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523/220 "2011-09-12T02:01:17Z")
And what a pathetic lemming you are, **Ibanez**! Isn’t name-calling fun! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-we-stop-wallowing-in-9-11/595523.md?page=12)