9-eleven

I recently visited a 9/11 monument in NY. WOW. What a weird example of how you can turn national tragedy into a tourist trap!

I expected to see a bunch of somber visitors quietly rambling around in contemplation – instead I found myself in a tightening circle of smiling faces backing away from their phones for a better angle.

I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is there a rule about the appropriate number of teeth one can show while smiling at a memorial? Are the instagram filters limited to sepia and mono?’ Is duck-face ill-advised?’

There’s a luxury hotel adjacent to the South Tower pool. Their brochure boasts ‘tall windows with a view of 911 memorial’. I, personally, would rather have a room overlooking a brick wall. I mean, who’d want to start their day chewing a bagel, staring at mass grave ? ‘Come ‘ere, babe, the sunrise over Ground Zero is breathtaking’.

What happened? Was this an act of memento mori? Or did someone decide, ‘let’s not waste a perfectly good tragedy’? Do they have hotels like that in Poland? If they do, are rooms overlooking concentration camps cost extra?

There is a 9/11 gift shop, too. They have everything – magnets, coins, hats, shirts, plush toys, even a coat for your puppy. The monetization of the tragedy is horrifying and fascinating at the same time. I think next we’re gonna start placing gift shops at regular graveyard, ‘Sorry for your loss, want a keychain?’”

As I was walking away, obscuring the view of grinning people taking selfies, It occurred to me, perhaps, it is I who’s seeing it all wrong. People(and countries) have different ways of coping with loss. Maybe THIS is how America heals. Maybe I should be proud of my fellow citizens… look at us, making lemonade out of lemons: ‘Take that, terrorists! You can knock down our building, but our capitalism? Rock solid.’