Setting aside the question of whether a reporter can ask a question at the 9/11 Museum (short answer: she can't!), let us tackle another timely inquiry: Just how crass is the 9/11 Museum's gift shop?
The Post previously detailed some of the items, like a "Darkness Hoodie" and "Survivor Tree" earrings. But they forgot to mention the 9/11 cheese plate.
The cheese plate is in the shape of the continental U.S., with hearts where the attacks hit NYC; the Pentagon in Arlington, VA; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Because no cheese course is complete without a moment to "Never forget" (to take our Lactaid). Let's roll... that wheel of cheddar to Freedomtown?
The shop has more common museum gift shop items, like museum t-shirts and museum rubber bands. One visitor told the Post yesterday, "As rotten and heartless as it may seem, it’s always about money. Educational books and T-shirts and posters that say, ‘Never forget 9/11’ are OK, but the dog vests and the cheap earrings need to go."
Museum spokesman Michael Frazier explained the Washington Post that the items in the shop were "carefully selected... To care for the Memorial and Museum, our organization relies on private fundraising, gracious donations and revenue from ticketing and carefully selected keepsake items for retail." He also noted that during the period where 9/11 workers, survivors and victims' families visited the museum, "[m]any of our guests from the 9/11 community have visited the shop and purchased a keepsake from their historic experience."
