Oh, man! My patriotic bone got riled up today.
I'm not a very patriotic person, meaning I don't talk or write about my love for my country often. I don't defend us from verbal abuse from foreigners and other countries. I've never put on a military uniform...okay, I lied. Yes I have:
...but I've never been enlisted.
Anyway...(Gosh darn it! Sweet, adorable, Little Me just ruined the steam I'd had building up for the past few hours!)...someone made a comment this evening that just pissed me off. Just before my dance class, Madam Hairdresser was complaining about a company that cut down a bunch of pine trees in her back yard (I assume they were too close to power lines) and left the logs behind. They told her she had to take care of the logs and they'd come back to grind up the stumps. If the logs were still there, they wouldn't grind up the stumps.
Now, I can see why Madam Hairdresser was upset. She had to move about twenty heavy logs by herself and it's a wood she can't burn in the fireplace. What she said next, though, made me almost see red.
"That's why I don't celebrate the 4th of July. I have no freedom!" She didn't say it flippantly, jokingly. She said it vehemently and repeated herself.
I got up and left the room.
I'm not a confrontational person. I hate conflict. I also respect my elders. I know, I'm old-fashioned for my generation, aren't I? If my elder loses my respect, I usually have enough respect for the age difference that I still won't unleash a tirade upon them. But boy did I have a Class A rant going in my head!
Images of my great-grandpa Jim's POW flag flapping in the breeze alongside a gaudy but proud display of a dozen American flags mixed with images of my grandpa, Papa, in his Navy uniform and with memories of my dad's uniform and pictures of friends' uniforms.
I don't know Madam Hairdresser's life story. I'm sure she has her reasons for feeling like she has no freedom. I imagine she just forgot about the fact that she, a woman, has a job of her own. That she had a choice in her career. That she has the opportunity, whether she utilizes it or not, to vote for how she thinks her town and country ought to be run. That she has the luxury of taking a dance class and socializing. That she can practice whatever religion she wants, no matter how hokey it may seem to others. That she will never have to undergo a public whipping. That she can say what she really thinks about the government with no repercussions...I could go on.
I'm glad my great-grandpa Jim, who was shot down over Germany in WWII and almost killed by locals before Nazis rescued him and held him in a POW camp, didn't hear her. I'm glad my grandpa, who's ship was surrounded by sampans sneaking up on them in the fog during the Korean War until the fog lifted in time for them to see and fire, didn't hear her. I'm glad my dad, who served on a nuclear submarine, sleeping next to torpedoes during the Gulf War, didn't hear her. I'm glad my friends, who joined the Army and Marines after High School and toured in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, didn't hear her. They all fought for her freedom to life, liberty, and opinions.
I can't imagine she's ever been outside of the United States if she truly feels she has no freedom. And if that really is how she feels, maybe it's time for her to put her styling scissors down and fight for her own flipping freedom.
Until my country's stars and stripes are null and void and we become the People's Republic of America, I will be proud of my land and grateful that I have more freedom and rights than so many others. For all our faults, we're still a damn good country.
