Yeah, the flags everywhere were a bit unsettling at times. (Except in that one tiny town where they had as many rainbow flags as they had national flags, that was sort of cute.) Especially, and I'm not sure if that makes sense, in combination with the size of the 9/11 memorials. 9/11 was a tragedy, no question, but every time I saw another memorial I couldn't help but think of the consequences and this general feeling that American lives are valued so much higher than other lives that it's sort of scary.