...what you were doing on this day ten years ago when you heard the news? Would you know what he was talking about? I had no idea what the title of this post of Rod Dreher's meant: "Where were you when you heard?" Turns out he's talking about the death of Princess Diana. I could not have told you what month or year she died, much less the exact date. There are many things in this world I Just Do Not Get, and Diana-mania is one of them. I would assume that maybe you have to be British to understand, except that plenty of Americans seem to have it, too.

I mean no disrespect to the poor woman, but "poor woman" is as far as my very few thoughts about her ever went once the stories of the broken marriage began to appear in the press. I've always been inclined to like Prince Charles, maybe just because we're the same age and are both sort of nerdy and he seems to have the occasional interesting thought. And I wished the couple well when they married. But by the time she died Diana registered on my consciousness only as another sad lost celebrity. Poor woman. RIP.

Of course, for Americans of a certain age (over fifty, roughly) "Where were you when you heard?" will always refer first to the Kennedy assassination (Mr. Siniard's 10th grade biology class, if you want to know).