Nobody Wants to Go to the 9/11 Memorial

When my mom visited, she dragged me to the 9/11 memorial. I had no interest in going. I tried to delay or plan other activities, but she was set on it.

The most striking element of the 9/11 Memorial (in February at least) was the intense security I went through to get into it. It's at airport level- windy line with cameras aggressively aimed at me, belts and belts off as I went through the metal detector. It almost seemed like weird performance art. The piece would be called "the effects of 9/11 on culture in the US" and that is what it would be.

After going to the 9/11 Memorial, I mentioned to friends that I had been, and was stared at blankly. Over and over again, I would tell people that I went, trying to start a conversation and people weren't interested. The US government's response to 9/11 has altered our lives and the lives of people around the world. The Memorial is free and in the least, seems like a reference point to understand the country we live in better.  I realized that not only did nobody I know want to go to the 9/11 memorial, they didn't even want to talk about it's existence.

Are my lefty friends disinterested because of the patriotism associated with it?
Did we live through it, so we don't feel like we need a memorial?
Is it just another tourist trap?