Jenn has a soapbox, I have one too

One year ago today, I woke up thinking I had the weirdest dream about something terrible happening in New York City. It wasn't until I got in my car to drive to class that I realized that it wasn't a dream, it really happened and it was all over TV and Radio Stations probably world wide.

On the one year anniversary of this event. I am acting as if it were a normal day. Not that I have forgotten the events of last year. I don't share the same attitude as my sister. She didn't lose anything, she didn't know anyone that lost something, there are more important dates in history than 9/11. I have had to listen to her soap box speeches all week because she was given an assignment for one of her classes to write letters about 9/11 to an authority figure, a friend and someone of her choice.

She wrote to her teacher saying exactly how stupid she thought the assignment was, because you don't write letters about the day the Emancipation Proclomation was signed, or Gettysburg or things like that.

She worte to Johnny declaring that We the People are captialist jerks, and Wal-Mart and the manufacturing companies that made all those flags are evil because they probably didn't donate any of the profits from the flags to relief charities.

And, her final letter was to Nathan, expressing her wished to be in Mexico away from all the hubub of the 9/11 anniversary.

I love my sister, and I think it is great that she wants to take a stand and teach this country's children all the stuff about history that teachers aren't allowed to teach. But, some of the things she says make her sound like the most ignorant person alive.

She feels that today should have been ignored, because she feels that people ignore the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. She feels that we will be attacked again, because we ignore history and think we are such a superpower, we are unattackable.

She thinks that everyone of those flags that were bought last year is a sign of how fake Americans are. Last year we all came together and it didn't matter if you were homosexual, African American, Asian American, heterosexual, we were all American. But as things calmed down we turned on each other once again.

Most of all she sees the people grieving the loss of all those people when they didn't know any of them as being selfish because we aren't letting the people that truly lost family and friends to grieve properly.

To me I feel us recognizing today shows our continued support of the families that lost loved ones in the tragic attack last year. Yes many did try to make a profit off of others loss, my uncle included, when Kawasaki made a limited edition Red, White and Blue motorcycle, he had to order it. It must have sold because I never saw it. How much were Red, White and Blue products marked up after 9/11?

Why does it really matter so much to my little sister, that American's are once again proud to be American?

Is it because she feels that her year round American pride means more than the Bi-yearly pride that she seems to think everyone else has. Flags come out for July 4th and Sept. 11, Jennifer has a little flag on our porch everyday so she feels superior to those who only think of the country as a whole 2 days out of the year.

Now I will step off my soap box about Jennifer's soap box.

I hope you have all had an enjoyable day surrounded by your friends or loved ones.