You Never Write Me

Is anyone surprised the 9/11 families have found something else to be pissed about? This time it's because 24 of them received "cold form letters" from the city this weekend, informing them that tapes of the 911 calls made by their relatives that morning had finally been identified, and were being made available to them. The letters informed them not only that the voices of their family members had been identified, but that the tapes and transcripts were being released to the public this week.

The letters also asked the families' permission to release those specific tapes. Without their permission, the tapes of their loved ones would remain the private property of the family, and not be made part of the public record.

One woman, it's reported, opened the letter on an elevator, became hysterical, and fainted. It was "an outrage," we're told-the city was "reopening old wounds."

Why was this so bad? We all knew the recordings existed. The Times and a coalition of family members had sued to have the tapes released. Now that a few of the voices had been positively identified, they were being released. Where's the shock?

Well, we're told, the city should have given 9/11 family members some warning that they were going to get the letters instead of just "blindsiding" them. And in fact, the city had planned to send an e-mail to leaders of the 9/11 Families Movement last week to give them just such a heads-up, but neglected to do so.

But even if the powers-that-be had sent an e-mail to let them know the letters were coming, the families would probably have demanded that the city have personal representatives come to their homes to tell them that an e-mail was on its way to inform them that a letter was coming. And if the city had done that, they would've insisted that the mayor should've called a meeting with them, to let them know a guy would be stopping by to tell them an e-mail was coming to warn them?

Well, you get the idea. While we understand and sympathize with their grief, it's become evident over the past few years that you cannot win with some people.