Here we go again. Thanks to the sniper attacks, there has been a recent wave of “me too”-ism reminiscent of the thrity million people who saw the plane slam into the Pentagon on September 11th. Now obviously this is nothing that I can write about to any degree, but I am getting tired of it already. I remember one commentator last year talking about how long it would take for us to revert back to our pre-9-11 mentality. Not too long, unfortunately. . .

Will: My neice was in Doswell during the Ashland attack

Will: My cousin was in the next restaurant at the time of the attack.

Shaun: My uncle’s father’s sister’s cousin’s roommate was eating lunch near a white van in Eureka during the World Series (wtf?!)

Shaun: Who cares where your family was? You people are worse than the sympathy whores after 9-11. . .

Mom: Shaun, I bet if you were sitting next door in the restaurant, we’d be hearing about it though!!! Too close to home, is too close to home.

jason: here here, mom. Shaun, don’t be an ass, mister “I saw the plane head towards the Pentagon”

jason: really, I see will’s comments more as concern for his family who happened to be in close proximity than an attempt to say “COOL!!!!!”

Shaun: Imagine how the *real* victims feel when you people piggyback and oprah-fy what they are going through. Disgusting. . .

Shaun: That’s reality – someone’s distant relative being in the area is crap. It’s a cheap attempt by people to identify with something that’s not even theirs.

Do I sound angry? You bet I do.

Enough is enough. How many people have to die or experience real trauma before we quit trying to identify with every tragedy?