mattbell

My arrival into the US happened to coincide with a holiday I hadn't been aware of until now - Flag Day.  It apparently was a big deal for my friends' parents though.  They asked if I wanted to come along.  The regular Matt probably would have said no.  The traveler Matt "this is just another foreign country and I should learn about its traditions" said yes. 

It did feel like a foreign country.  There were flags everywhere.  A secret society - The Elks - featured prominently in the celebration, as one of its Imperial Grand Viziers, who looked like a slightly younger Colonel Sanders, was the master of ceremonies.  Policemen, veterans, and firemen were revered, Army Hummers were flaunted, and drugs were reviled.  (There's a nice picture of me with the "This Car Was Seized From A Drug Dealer" car while wearing an Israeli Psytrance T-shirt.)

I have to admit the ceremony was a bit fun, especially if I just treat it as another bit of historical pageantry from a foreign country.

I learned some things about American history.  They took us through the Star-Spangled Banner and pulled apart its meaning.  Apparently during the night of the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, the hopelessly outgunned Americans did nothing but stand holding up the American flag all night while faced by the full firepower of the entire British fleet, and by morning the flag was still standing but only because it was propped up by the bodies of dead American patriots.  The story as told by Wikipedia is slightly different -- passive American harbor defense mechanisms kept.the British warships from getting close enough to do too much damage, and casualties were light.  

So, what have we learned?  America is highly patriotic, honors its veterans, and has powerful secret societies.   America also enjoys drinking watered-down beer, presumably so they can drink it more like a beverage.  Also, Americans are obsessed with proper care of their flags, but they're happy to put parts of the flag on shirts, pants and even bikinis, and they'll throw those flag-clothes on the ground with nary a thought.  One might say America is a land of contradictions.

Oh, did I just generalize to a whole country based on one day in one city?  Yeah, that's the problem with traveling quickly.  :-)

“Freedom means being able to marry who you want” -- from the winner of a Flag Day essay contest, who read her winning essay on “what is freedom?” in front of a crowd of mostly Elks and war veterans in St Louis, Missouri. 

I think the California Supreme Court just got schooled.