Today I made someone feel bad, and I didn't mean to, since she thought she was empathizing with me about something that just makes me mad, and I told her so.
I live in Oklahoma City, where we now have the "Oklahoma City National Memorial" - the park (or is it a garden?) that memorializes "...the worst terrorist attack in on American soil." And, this lady was telling me that someone had sent her photos of the memorial, and she was fighting back tears and telling me how sad it was to see those chairs in the garden. She then said that she felt so sorry for me, and just knew I had to be devastated every time I saw the memorial. It was then that I had to explain my feelings about a few things:
1. I have not been to the memorial, no do I plan to go to the memorial. Not because I don't feel sad that people were killed and injured in the bombing, but because I have some very strong opinions against the memorial. Like, why did it cost $29.5 million dollars to create it? And why did the State have to take $2.5 million dollars out of the State's Rainy Day Fund to complete it?
2. I firmly believe that the memorial is for people not from around here. If you had a friend or loved one that died in the bombing, you would probably go to their grave and mourn them there, not where they were killed. Bailey Alman's (the baby girl who was in the photo where the fireman was carrying the child from the rubble) mother said, on the day of the dedication, that she had never come back to this site until that morning because this is not where she visits Bailey, she visits her at the cemetery. When I explained to my friend that there are road signs directing traffic, and I do mean the tour buses that do come to town, to the memorial, she was appalled and couldn't believe that the city would be encouraging sightseers. Well, they may not be encouraging, but they sure aren't discouraging it as the rise in hotel occupancy has grown since April 19th.
My friend was also surprised to find out that the city's District Attorney, Bob Macy, still intends on trying Nichols and McVeigh for 168 counts of murder. What makes me so mad about that is that it will take $6 million dollars each to try two individuals who are already serving life sentences in the highest security prison in the US. All Macy would succeed in doing is spending tax-payer money like a sieve and reopening wounds that haven't even fully closed yet. Why? Why drag the families through more trials? Why drag the city through the media circus again?
Believe me, I feel terrible about all of the death and injury that occurred April 19th, 1995, and I do believe that there should be a memorial to those that died, just not a $29.5 million one. I had a distant cousin who died in the blast, but if I choose to mourn her, I will go to her grave site, and mourn privately, not in the town square with the next bus of tourists coming through.
I also know people that were terribly devastated by this tragic event, and I do not want to ridicule their feelings about the memorial, but each person attaches a different meaning to different things. I am sure people find comfort there, but my feelings about how this memorial was handled have tainted my opinion of it.