Monday, October 06, 2008

Riddle Me This

What I am doing at work now for the next few weeks requires me to work in rooms with other teachers. Which means, when it is time for the Pledge, there is an adult who is able to possibly give me shit for not standing. So I stand. I don't cover my heart. I don't say it. I stand and face the flag and think of how I'd rather be having my teeth cleaned with the poky metal tools than pledge allegiance to a country that reminds me more of nazi germany every day. And I understand how ballsy turning one's back to the flag is now. I have tried to be late to homeroom to miss the pledge altogether. Maybe that's what I have to do is just be using the bathroom or in the lounge until that little ritual is done. It seems so petty, but it doesn't feel that way. When I was little (like under 12) and going to car races with my family, they'd yell at me for refusing to stand for the National Anthem. I clearly remember being 7 at Stafford Motor Speedway, and telling them I was not going to stand for any patriotic song. I never had an easygoing childhood. Last summer, I went to a rodeo in Maine, and mortified the person who took me there because I wouldn't stand then either. God forbid his family think I'm a pinko red. I've always hated ritual and ceremony, so even if I was a sappy-ass patriot, I'd probably still refrain from these activities because they are so forced and corny.

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