Respecting Our Flag

Basic patriotism in the form of respecting our flag is something all to easy to forget.

A few days ago, I was shopping at a major retailer, and I happened to be near a service desk when an obviously upset employee came hurrying up. "Where are they?" I heard her ask the other lady manning the desk. Soon she was digging through the wastebasket beneath the desk and pulling out several small American flags---the small 4x6 variety on a stick that you see kids waving at parades. Apparently someone in management had ordered that these flags---excess stock or something---be thrown away. And that made this employee mad. "If you need to get rid of an American flag, you burn it," she said. "I don't care what they say, you don't throw an American flag away---management be damned." To be honest, I was a little surprised. How many Americans would have second thoughts about throwing away an American flag? In this era of wacky radicals and rioting foreign protesters burning American flags as a symbol of hate and disrespect, it's far too easy to forget that the respectful way to dispose of an American flag is to burn it with honor. In fact, I think that a lot of people forget the importance of the flag as a symbol of our country and of freedom. There is a reason why so many deliberately dishonor the American flag, and that's because of what it represents. Remembering to respect our flag, whether it's in how we display it, what we do with our hats when we see it, or how we dispose of it, is actually remembering to respect all that is great and good and free about our country, and remembering the sacrifices that Americans have made for over two centuries to keep it that way. So thank you to the patriotic lady who whose respect for our flag (and anger at its dishonor) reminded me of something very important that is often overlooked in our society. Long may the star-spangled banner wave "o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."