At first, I was surprised. Then, I was angry. I was kneeling on a grassy patch by the curb on the corner of our house at the Jersey shore. It was a couple of days after 9/11. Local school kids had planted small American flags in the ground on just about every corner to commemorate the day. They were those small flags attached to a wooden stick with a gold point on top. My wife noticed it had fallen over the night before. She picked it up, and stuck it in a flower pot in the front yard. The ground by the street was packed hard, and the flag wouldn’t stay. She asked me to dig a better hole the next morning.
I was banging a Phillips head screw driver into the dirt with a hammer, when a marked borough maintenance pick up truck drove by. The guy in the passenger seat yelled, “Put that flag back!” It had accusatory tone, as if he caught me being disrespectful, and tried to shame me for tampering with the flag. He assumed I was kneeling in the dirt, in broad daylight, ripping out a flag planted by school children to remember one of the worst days in our history. He was yelling at the wrong guy, and I wanted him to know it.
I called the borough mayor. I left a message about what happened, and said I wasn’t happy that a borough employee was behaving badly. I expected a call back. I was still steaming. I had to speak with someone. I called the borough administrator. I got her voice mail which said she would be back in the office on September 3rd, and to call the borough clerk if I needed to speak with someone. By the way, this was September 13th. Finally, the clerk answered the phone. I was very polite, but firm in my displeasure. She was very professional, and agreed this shouldn’t have happened, and promised to look into it. I told her I expected a call back with the result of her investigation. I had my doubts.
A short time later, I did get a call from the maintenance supervisor. He said he got the message about my call, and was calling to apologize for the behavior of his employee. He spoke with the guys in the truck, and told them they were out of line. He also said we live in a small community, and we try to support each other. I think he was genuinely embarrassed. I told him I appreciated his call.
The flag and patriotism have become both a unifying and divisive since 9/11. Everyone remembers the iconic picture of the New York City firefighters hoisting a flag in the rubble of the trade towers symbolizing unity and defiance. We also know the uproar caused by pro football players kneeling during the national anthem to protest social injustice. Many saw that as disrespecting the flag we should all be fighting for. The flag has been used for many causes, both good and bad, over our history. Maybe we should see it as a symbol that allows us to freely express our thoughts and opinions without being called unpatriotic. Maybe we should see it as a symbol to sit down and reason together. Maybe we should see it as reason to pull over, and not just drive by, not caring about the truth.
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