On the tragic morning of September 11, 2001... never mind that -- we
all know what happened that morning... Americans responded to the September
11 tragedy by doing what Americans do best: creating a flavor-of-the-month
trend and having every worthless waste of organic material with nothing
better to do jump on the proverbial bandwagon. Unlike previous flavor-of-the-month
trends which involved obsessing over useless and overpriced objects or
"reality TV" contestants going through their fifteen minutes of fame, this
trend involved American flags, American pride, and respect for this country
-- things that used to mean something before. When patriotism became
just another bandwagon to jump on, it quickly lost its meaning and became
trite and cliché. I touched on this subject briefly in my
recent article about annoying bumper
stickers, which apparently made Nothing-Sacred reader Sandra Zelko
slightly unhappy.
She decided to voice her dissatisfaction in the most useful and productive
way possible: by sending me, a person on the Internet whom she has never
met before, an angry e-mail. It read:
From: Sandra Zelko
To: Iced Alex
Subject: N/A
Actually, putting an American flag on my car after 9/11/01 was a sign
of support and respect for my country after a brutal attack and for
the victims and families of that tragic day. It remains on my car
today because I want all the men and women fighting in the war against
terrorism to know that I support them and will be forever grateful for
them and their bravery. So....save your "trite" commentary...it just
makes you look stupid.
That's right folks, I received an e-mail from a woman... about something
that I wrote on Nothing-Sacred and she read... and she seemed like a feisty
one! After pinching myself and realizing that this was not all a
dream, I wrote her a reply, which read as follows:
From: Iced
Alex
To: Sandra Zelko
Subject: Re: N/A
Dr Ms. Zelko
Thank you for this highly instructive and informative e-mail regarding
my opinions. Before I received this e-mail, I thought that people
who put American flag bumper stickers on their cars were just bandwagon
jumpers, but now I know they do it out of patriotism and deepest respect
for their country. Your great e-mail made me realize just how wrong
I was before, and for that I -- as you said -- will be forever grateful.
Well, all right, let me put my sarcasm aside for a moment and take a
closer look at what it is you wrote.
Actually, putting an American flag on my car after 9/11/01 was a
sign of support and respect for my country after a brutal attack
Gee, I wonder where all that respect for your country was BEFORE that
brutal attack? Why is it that before 9/11/2001 you couldn't give
a truckload of rat shit about your country, but after that day you suddenly
became so patriotic? It wasn't because everyone else was being "patriotic",
was it?
and for the victims and families of that tragic day.
...Which will, of course, help out those victims and their families
a lot. All those people who died on 9/11 have now come back to life
because you put a "patriotic" bumper sticker on your car. And the
family members of those people are now able to be with their parents, spouses,
siblings, children, and other loved ones again... Oh wait, I said
I was gonna put my sarcasm aside for a while -- sorry. My point is
that your putting that "patriotic" bumper sticker on your car has not helped
(and will not help) anyone who died or lost a loved one on 9/11, and has
contributed to patriotism in America changing from a noble feeling of respect
for your country to a flavor-of-the-month trend like watching American
Idol on Fox.
It remains on my car today because I want all the men and women fighting
in the war against terrorism to know that I support them and will be forever
grateful for them and their bravery.
If you don't mind me asking, what kind of car do you drive? It
wouldn't happen to be a huge SUV that guzzles gas, which is what caused
the 9/11 attacks and the need for "all the men and women" to fight "in
the war against terrorism" in the first place, would it?
So....save your "trite" commentary...it just makes you look stupid.
Not if dictionary.com
has anything to say about it. Let's see here:
trite ( P ) Pronunciation Key
(trt)
adj. trit·er, trit·est
Lacking power to evoke interest through overuse or repetition; hackneyed.
When every other car on the road has a bumper sticker bearing a some "patriotic"
message like the American flag or some clichéd slogan like "power
of pride," this kind of show of patriotism becomes exactly that -- trite.
And if you cannot see that even after reading my "commentary," you are
the one who looks stupid (not to mention that sending angry e-mails to
someone on the Internet whom you never met, and, most likely never will
meet doesn't exactly make you look like a genius). So....save your
"patriotic" commentary...it just makes you look stupid.
Take care
"Iced" Alex
With that I clicked the "send" button, and my message went on its way to
Ms. Zelko's inbox. Being the true American patriot that she is, she
sent me her reply to the message above later the very same day. Sending
angry e-mails to people on the Internet must be a very patriotic thing
to do, since a devout patriot like her has done it to me not once but twice.
So stick around for the exciting conclusion to this article...
(To be continued)
- Iced Alex
