Fallen Flag

So...I build power lines. I had to run a trouble call in a nearby town and when I finished the call I headed back.

On the way I passed a restaurant that had a landscaped garden out in the front near the highway. They had a small American flag on a plastic stick that was supposed to be stuck in the ground but it had fallen over and was now lying on the ground.
I glanced over and saw the flag but I kept driving and I started thinking and one thought lead to another. I thought 'I should have stopped and picked up that flag and replanted it'. Then I thought 'Eh, who cares, anyway?'. Then a picture came into my mind. You've seen the movies where the Union soldiers are charging up the hill and the flag bearer gets shot and starts to drop the flag and another guy throws down his rifle and takes the flag and they keep charging? And I wondered why someone would do that and if they would do that today?

Things are not the same as they were back then. There was honor to be a flag bearer and you didn't let the flag hit the ground or be captured. Men would give their lives to not let that happen.

It wasn't that long ago that a World War II vet who had fought the Japanese would not buy anything from Japan. Maybe you have a grandfather or granduncle who still might be like that.
Hell, years ago you didn't lock your doors to your house. You left the keys in the ignition in the car parked out in your driveway. No one stole anything. At least not in small towns across the USA.

They didn't steal or rob or rape or anything like that because it just wasn't acceptable in society in a small town and everyone knew everyone else.
Now, we don't care. Someone broke into your car and stole your stereo? Wow, too bad. Oh well, insurance will cover it.

We don't want to wait for anything. We want it now. We don't care about our neighbors. Have you even MET your next door neighbors? What about the ones across the street?
We don't care if our neighbors are laid off. We probably don't really care if our brothers are laid off. We just want what we want and we want it now. I really don't even think we care about quality. If it LOOKS like what we want then that's good enough.

Who cares where it's made? That doesn't affect ME and I don't care about anyone else but ME.
Yeah, I COULD save up and buy an American (or English) made amp but I wouldn't be able to get that amp for six months and I want one NOW.

Well you know what? You SHOULD care. Even if the only one you think about and care about is YOU. Why? Because this country's economy is spread around and one thing affects the other.
What do YOU do for a living? You sell something? Shoes maybe? Do you work in a restaurant as a waiter? Do you build houses?

Well think about this. Every time you buy something that's not made in your own country you're NOT supporting the job that some guy in this country is holding down. Pretty soon, if that trend continues, the company where this guy works is not selling as much as they were before and soon they don't need as many people there. So they lay off that guy.

Now, a laid off guy doesn't have money to spend so he can't buy a new pair of shoes or go out to eat or build a new house and THAT affects YOU. That ends up affecting you no matter WHAT your job is. Even if you sell those Made in China amps. It may take awhile for a struggling economy to get to you but it's gonna happen.

If you want this country to make it economically, you need to do your part. You need to buy American any time you can. You need to look at the label and see where that thing you're gonna buy is made. If it's not made here then don't buy it. Buy the one that IS made here. If they don't have one made here then get the manager and ask why they don't have one that's made in the USA. He'll tell his district manager and that will eventually make it up to corporate if enough of us keep asking why.

Of course, if you don't care about this country and how it doing economically, then why the fuck are you here? Get the fuck out. This country doesn't need you or want you. You're a parasite. Fuck you AND your kids AND the horse you rode in on.

Ok, maybe that's a tirade. Maybe it's a bit harsh. Maybe we should ask the guy who just got laid off because the thing he was making here in this country is selling cheaper because it's now made in China by under paid over worked slave labor. I'm sure he'd be much softer in his opinion.

Anyway, I had another trouble call later that day to the same town. On the way out of town I had to drive by that same restaurant and that same flag. This time, I pulled over to the side of the road and walked over and replanted that flag. I just thought it was the right thing to do. I mean, who ELSE was gonna do it?