We'd not been home since the summer of 2001, just weeks before 9/11, and so were absent while the nation embraced its latest fad with all the gusto and lasting sincerity of owners of virtual pets. Call me cynical (yeah, take a number) but living in a corner of the world where U.S. flags are not only hard to come by but considered a statement that is either bold or careless--no in-betweens allowed--I was taken aback by the blatant disrespect and cavalier attitude towards the symbol of my nation. I mean, I've never been one to hang a flag of any kind, (ok, a baseball game souvenir was in my bedroom from when the Angels won the pennant in '79) but I can remember high school civics class and the rules governing the proper care of the Stars & Stripes. Nowhere to be found was a dedicated light ready to shine after sunset on any of the flags hanging from eaves and draped over hedges. I'd be out 15 minutes after sunup and there were flags being watered by sprinklers and hanging in dirty puddles. What happened to not touching the ground? What happened to respectfully disposing of them when they're tattered and torn?
I wonder if the latest hypochondriac siren song across the land is no longer carpal tunnel syndrome but flag-wavers elbow?
And who's the audience for all this? Do people really think someone's counting how many flags they've got displayed between their queen palms and hydrangeas? Is sleep sweeter at night if you've convinced yourself that you're more patriotic than your neighbors because you bought a six-pack of flags as opposed to the Jones' red, white and blue birdfeeder? I realize I'm being flippant, but I'm building up to the very real side-effect of the more-patriotic-than-thou crowd who sees as suspect anyone who is not embibing in the nationalistic frenzy. And don't even get me started on the number of times I saw the unnatural union of religion and nationalism! Americans did not invent God, nor do I believe He holds a U.S. passport. The "God is an American" sentiment was hands down the most shameful thing I encountered all summer. At least the bumper sticker sentiment "God bless America" seems a bit less arrogant, implying that He's got options.
