Why Are People Disappointed in the Eclipse?

The "once in a lifetime" solar eclipse has come and gone, and if you're like me, it was cool - maybe not life changing - but cool.  So why are so many people complaining about it? 

I was surprised to hear some co-workers, people at the grocery store, friends on Facebook, and even news coverage complaining the the eclipse wasn't "very impressive."  I'm not sure what people were expecting.  Actually, maybe therein lies the problem.

It did seem that perhaps the whole experience had been a bit "over-hyped?"  The influx of tourists was certainly real.  The sold out rental cars were real.  The insane hotel prices and sold out camp grounds, also real.

Maybe it was our own expectations that were a little out of step with reality.  North of the Treasure Valley in the 70 mile range of 100% totality, the skies did seem to get much darker, probably more in line with what people were expecting from an eclipse.  Even then, to me, it didn't appear to be "pitch black" since there was still light provided from outside that 70 mile range.

Here in the Valley, we had been warned we would be at 99.5-99.6% totality, so I never expected darkness.  I thought the quick change from full light to "dusk," the street lights coming on, the reaction from animals, the eerie silence was all pretty cool.  The most amazing thing to me was how quickly our temperatures changed from near 90 degrees to under 70.

I'm not sure what we expected, but I thought seeing the changes in the sky and feeling it on the ground was pretty cool.  Then again, maybe my expectations weren't quite as high to begin with.