A symbol of freedom. A symbol of our nation. A symbol that our nation holds so dear to our hearts that we have special rules and regulations on how to treat it, display it, respect it, and even dispose of it properly.
One method of flying the flag that every American should be aware of (I mean, we probably all learned this in preschool, scouts, or on the History channel, right?) is that the national sign of distress is flying the flag upside down.
Yesterday.
I was driving home for lunch when I noticed an American flag flying upside down from someone's front yard. "Hmm," I thought to myself. "Odds are pretty good that this is someone playing a joke on the owner of the house, or perhaps it was dark when they ran the flag up the pole." But as I continued on my drive, I also wondered if one of the people in the house was in an abusive relationship, and the abuser never looked at the flag, or....something.
So, on my way back to the church, I decided to pull over in my little British-made MG and knock on the door to see what was the matter. No sooner had my 3rd knock sounded than the door opened and a man in a firefighters T-shirt stepped out onto the front deck and introduced himself as Ron. I preceded to ask if everything was okay, gesturing to the bottom side down union-jack he was displaying from his yard. Ron then went about telling me that as long as Obama was in office, that our nation would be under distress and that he would fly the flag that way until something changed. He said I was the fourth person to ask about it, which means he is on a whopping 1 per 6 week pace.
Way to be Ron. Fly that flag proudly.
Ron served 8 years in the military, 20 as a fireman, and currently buys guns and ammo to stock his house just in case his conspiracy theories about the government being behind the Boston bombings and the school shootings turn out to be true.
I'm proud of you for stopping by :)
ReplyDeleteThough... If he's flying a Union Jack he must also be British!