Grief Auction
There's a story in yesterday's New York Times about the trial of an ex-fireman accused of stealing items from the WTC site. This the paragraph on what he's accused of taking:

According to court papers, an investigator found several items belonging to victims of the attack - including a photograph of a bride and groom at a wedding reception, seven identification cards belonging to employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a two-way radio - during a search of Mr. Brandon's home in Pine Bush, N.Y., in 2002.

An unnamed detective then tells the paper:

... "(T)he defendant made statements, in substance, that he knew he had no authority and that it was wrong to remove these items from the site, that he had collected other 'souvenirs' from the site, that he had already given some away to family members as gifts, and that the items could be very valuable someday."

It got me thinking about all the inappropriate "souvenirs" that have come out of the tragedy. My husband and I were in a gift shop near Times Square a couple weeks ago and found some really weird items -- like ashtrays with WTC logos made post 9/11 to commemorate the date. Who buys that stuff? And then I thought I'd take a look at ebay: A search for "WTC" produces 722 items today. There are a lot of patches, but the top item is a lamp with a lamp shade made of images of the smoking trade center. I don't even want to know what else is on the list. People cope with tragedy in ways I just don't understand.
- posted by Amy @ 2/25/2004 10:11:00 AM