Everyone has seen the stickers, t-shirts, car decals, and ribbons. Most people have purchased them as a way of believing that they are helping to fight the good fight on terrorism. All of these advertisements say “Remember 9/11″ or “Never Forget 9/11″. But the horrific plane crashes and the unfortunate death of those few thousand people is not what should be remembered.

The terrorist attacks on this country were an eye opening experience for America. As twisted as it may seem, on a global level, it was a good thing for America to experience. Yes, it is still a tragic occurrence, but what so many do not understand is the fact that these tragic occurrences happen every day on a global level. The entire continent of Africa and the majority of the Middle East experience these tragedies on a regular daily basis but America decides to make a huge deal about our one brush with disaster.

I agree with the fact that we should make a big deal about the attack on America because it has only happened once before and I do not want it to happen again. But when people say that we should all remember 9/11, I have to scoff at the idea. Because we should remember what happened before 9/11 to really make an impact on our country.

Two pre-9/11 examples of media pieces that got more exposure than necessary come to mind.

The first example, while it seems like a big ordeal, was blown way out of proportion in order to involve the whole nation and to sway politics. Bill Clinton was criticized on mass for his secret sexual meanderings with that young, blubbery intern (whats her name?) But was that really important or necessary, or was it just a way for the Clinton critics to have a field day and possible impeachment? In retrospect, I am sure that most Americans would prefer to have the eight years of peace and enriched economy that Clinton provided in exchange for our current war. Even if he did fool around outside of his marriage.

The second media craze that comes to mind is that adorable little Cuban boy a few years back. Elian Gonzales, the poor kid who dog paddled all the way from Cuba, became a huge media craze when he came to America. Now here is a story worth reporting and spending a great deal of time on. The kid came to America to escape unruly persecution by a dictator. Was this so phenomenal of an idea that had never happened before? Wait a second, that is the principle this whole country was founded on. I don’t think it was as big of an ordeal as it was publicized, but the media chose to portray it as the greatest thing since bi-partisan consistency in politics.

What we, as a society, chose to place time, money, and focus on was really quite ridiculous when you look back at the pre-9/11 America. Local news aside, the media revolves around creating a false significance to insignificant events and it is time that this has stopped. When a disastrous thing like 9/11 occurs, it makes all the trivial events of life seemﾅ well, trivial. And we know they are trivial to begin with, yet people are going to pick their battles anyway.

So the new phrase that I propose is “Remember How We Were Before 9/11″. While I understand that this is not practical for the whoring world of advertisement, it is a more accurate phrase of what we as a country should be doing. Our focus should be placed on the relevant events of our time and ease up on the name calling and figure pointing. We don’t take our children seriously when they whine and cry about trivial details. In fact, we get frustrated, aggravated, and annoyed. But their lost toy has become our national emergency that gains so much exposure it deteriorates its motive. So stop your complaining or you are going to be in time-out.

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