Off-topic musings on the topic of the day

This is the third September 11th I've spent in a high school, and it's always an interesting day. Most of my kids weren't even 10 in 2001, and probably have no concept of how much the events of that day have shaped the country and the legacy (not to mention the debt!) they've inherited from their parents. In the moment of silence we had this morning I mourned not just for the loss of life but for the loss of freedom, the loss of standing in the world, and I think mostly for our loss of perspective. Tragedies on a much grander scale occur around the world every day, and sometimes in our own names - people seem to have lost sight of that, blinded perhaps by all the flags fluttering in their faces.

It was a JROTC student who led us in a moment of silence, as his fellow uniformed students saluted the half-mast flag - it was also from him that I first heard the term "Patriot Day", which has somehow escaped my notice over the past 6 years (probably because I avoid most reporting on the subject). My mind is boggled. What about the losses we suffered on 9/11 was patriotic? Nothing. It incenses me that people are so afraid of copping to the total senseless absurdity of life sometimes.