O O Ø O O O O
Flagging Respect
Stand still and shut up for two minutes, would ya?
There’s nothing quite like attending a sporting event with 50,000 other people. With that many spectators at an event here in Canada, it’s a pretty good bet it’s going to be a fun time. They’re pumped, a good portion are inebriated to the “happy drunk” stage, and by game time everyone is ready to roll. This was the scene in my hometown this weekend for the Grey Cup, and it was the precursor to one of favourite parts of the game - the national anthem.
No, I’m not kidding. It’s a wonderful experience, because for a couple of minutes you and everyone around you are reminded of just how lucky you are to live in an amazing country. The honour guard in their scarlet tunics presents the flag, a local or national celebrity of some sort sings lead, and a large portion of the crowd provides backup. There’s something about the flag, the Mounties, and the anthem which fills me—and, I suspect, a lot of other people judging by their actions—with a silly amount of pride and a joy of being part of something that big.
Maybe it’s me, but I’ve noticed that a lot more people are actually singing and cheering of late. At any NHL game hosted in Canada (outside of Toronto) last year you could hear the crowd in the background when the anthem was played. At the Grey Cup on Sunday the crowd almost drowned out the lead, and the crappy sound system only played a small part in that. No matter how bad their singing voices were, everyone around joined in and sang/belted the words out, and at the end the stadium was shaking from the applause.
It was awesome, and was the most enjoyable part of the whole affair for me. There was just one thing which really irked me, and while it didn’t ruin the moment or the game, it has stuck in my brain the last couple of days.
To the fat-ass in the dark blue ball cap and black “Ottawa AAA Canadians” jacket that could have sheltered a small town in the field-level seats in section EE:
You sir, are a grade “A” fucktard.
I’m sure you failed to hear the announcement asking everyone to rise or notice everyone else taking off their hats while you looked around you and yammered on your mobile, but I don’t understand how you could have possibly missed the anthem and everyone singing it. You stood there with hat firmly in place, grinning like an idiot, moving around and bumping into those around you, and paying attention to everything except the flag. Undoubtedly your call was extremely important, and I am sure you were able to carry on an intelligible conversation over the din everyone else was making.
Well done.
We live in a great country, and two of the strongest symbols that represent that country are our anthem and our flag. The fact that they’re used to kick off any large event is indicative of how important most Canadians regard them. I’m sorry you think this way, but you should know a lot of other people—including yours truly—do.
As a service, I would like to provide you with a few tips on proper behaviour when the anthem plays:
- Stop what you’re doing
- Face the flag
- If you’re wearing one, take your hat off (it’s not like it’s protecting anything of value) and hold it by your side or over your heart
- tell whoever you’re talking to on the phone to wait one, or that you’ll call them back
- shut your pie hole for two minutes unless you’re singing or cheering along
It’s only two minutes, surely you can accomplish that, can’t you? Maybe not, as I suspect you may own an SUV.
I hate to be too preachy (well, actually, no I don’t), but this kind of behaviour drives me nuts. I just think our country deserves our respect, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for people to pay a little of that respect to those symbols that define it. Stand up, sing along, and then get back to whatever it was that was so important it couldn’t wait.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
PD DCLXXIX
P.S.: Only thirty-two shopping days until Christmas... unless you live in some back-asswards part of the country.