i wonder if todays date would have the same totemistic significance if we came up with a different name for the events of 9-11-01. if the pentagon was not attacked, maybe it would have been called "the world trade center attack" and the date itself would not be linked so strongly with the event. pearl harbor day is pearl harbor day. it takes another few seconds to come up with december 7th
i feel bad for all the people who happened to be born today, or have their wedding anniversary. the otherwise happy day will always have the shadow of tragedy hanging over it.
when i was in uzbekistan last year, i met this guy who, after having me over for tea, handed me an invitation to his daughter's wedding. the invite was in uzbek so i couldn't read it. but i could read the date of the celebration; it was september 11th. i told him that i didn't think many people will be getting married on that day in america. he said that in his culture it is traditional to schedule happy occasions on otherwise sad days. that way, over time, the sad occasion gets replaced in people's minds with the happy things that came later. i don't know if that's a real uzbek tradition or if it's just something that he said after blundering into the faux pas of bringing up 9-11 with an american.
officially president bush has designated today as patriot day. a pretty stupid name, if you ask me, especially when you consider the large number of non-americans who died 3 years ago today. surely we can do better and find a way to honor everyone who died then.
