Guess what I got today? A 9-11 commemorative pin. A student at the university where I work offered it to me, and not wanting to disappoint him, I took it. It’s ribbon-shaped, of course, and blue and red with stars and “9-11″ on it. It looks like a NASCAR version of a Susan Kommen for the Cure ribbon.
I don’t like lapel pins very much. They are usually meant as insurance or advertising. Politicians wear American-flag pins to prove they are patriots. This is easier than enlisting, and not as hard on the knees (I was disappointed when candidate Obama decided he had to wear one – I thought he was a patriot already, if only because of all those corn dogs and rubber chicken).
As advertising, lapel pins are usually self-referential, like those awful “Baby on Board!” car signs (I try hard not to kill persons of any age when driving). Often they are tiny, baroque, and hard to understand. You must invade someone’s personal space to see them, or pose a question and regret the answer. You feel you ought to know what they mean, but it is almost certain they will mean less to you than to the owner.
(Full disclosure: I do have one lapel pin, for an organization that fights anti-gay bullying. It’s nice and looks more like an accessory than a statement.)
You know who should wear pins (and ribbons)? Soldiers, sailors, and marines. They earn them.
Anyway, I’ve got this 9-11 pin. I’m sad about the attack, and I’m still pissed at Al-Qaeda, but I’m not going to wear the pin.
I think it was made in China.
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