Clay1 Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 I went to a high school band competition tonight. My kid plays and the whole place was cranked up. I just told myself to relax and just watch the kid and have fun. I was subdued and laid back until they said all stand for the national anthem and everyone did but four kids about 3 rows infront of me. I don't care if they wear weird clothes, or swore or acted like jerks but when they didn't stand and everyone else did the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Next thing you know I walk up behind them and whack the chair one of them was slouched down into and said "why don't you stand up". It sounds like a question but if you heard me say it, there was no question or nicey polite phrasing to it. The high school boys all looked at me and then they all stood up. I have a young nephew who is in Iraq right now fighting for that flag and when they thought they would be cute, I just wanted to grab them by the scuff of the neck and trounce everyone of them. I really don't know what would have happened it the told me to go get &^%$#@$$%. I'm glad we didn't have to find out. Didn't think that I would react like that, but it really tripped my trigger. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Its their parents fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Good for you. Hopefully it will be a lesson they will remember. I have ZERO problems about demanding a modicum of respect. Anthem plays, stand up, take off your hat, and shut up for the duration. It's not too much to ask of anyone. The same rule goes for visiting a foriegn land. You may not agree with their politics, but show your hosts proper respect. I had to restrain myself from beating the sh*t out of a bunch of American punks who were dancing around and playing grab-butt over France's equivalent of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Like Aretha said...RESPECT.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Good for you, Clay! Uncle Bill, I think you are right - and wrong. When some kids get away from their parents they want to assert their independence and do things they KNOW would earn them a whoompin at home.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Merlin I know what you are saying but I believe you teach kids there are certain lines, never crossed. Like the National Anthem, Church, Etc. if you get my drift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedale Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Clay1, Good for you. I am proud of you! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 Thanks for doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Thank you. I can't say what my comments would have been but they wouldn't have gotten though the censor for an R ranted movie. But then I had 23 years of experience hearing them or later saying them to new recuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iweiny Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Clay1, EricW, Thanks to both of you. It is the lack of respect which has this world turned upside down, whether it be for our country or someone elses. BSeevers, You are dead on! Ira Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycanthrope Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Respect is taught. It can also be demanded, but it lacks sustainability in that regard. It's part parents, part schooling and part community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay1 Posted April 27, 2005 Author Share Posted April 27, 2005 Almost a week later I think back on this and am not shocked by my actions but am surprised by the emotion it brought out in me. Must be getting old or something. There are certain things you just don't mess with. Don't mess with a man's family or his country. Maybe this college boy has a real streak of redneck in him still. By the way to me redneck just means not always politically correct or saying things in ways that makes everyone feel all warm and fuzzy. Sometimes certain things need to be said or done. I didn't contemplate whether to do it or not, it just happened and fast. Thanks everyone for the kind words and I hope we all try to set good examples for the younger ones out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Thank you Rick. Like you said, the kids thought they would be cute, and all they showed was that they are to young and ignorant to have respect for their country. I would LOVE to take kids like that and force them to live in some of the 3rd world countries for a month or two, and then see how they feel about the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkelly Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Clay1, What would you have done if the children had ignored you? Respectfully, jkelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay1 Posted April 27, 2005 Author Share Posted April 27, 2005 JKelly, I really don't know, my attitude was such that I wasn't in the mood to take no for an answer. I really wasn't looking to spend the night in jail either. I'm glad that it didn't have to go there. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkelly Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I really wasn't looking to spend the night in jail either. I'm glad that it didn't have to go there.---Clay1 Me too! Respectfully, jkelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixote Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Clay 1 As a USAF enlisted retiree, disrespect for the anthem ticks me off as well. I have sung the anthem at many events, award ceremonies and sporting events. I sing it as it written. I consider "changing" the national anthem to sing it in a blues/rap/soul/country etc. manner disrespectful. Sing the darn song the way it was written. I also disagree with those who insist the song is "too hard" to sing and should be replaced by "America the Beautiful." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGYoung Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 I can't sing but it never stops me. I've noticed that when I start, people around me also start, then people around them start. Before you know it the whole darn place is singing. Hopefully, the music is loud enough to make us all sound good but even if it's not, all those voices sound good to me. Try it yourself, stand up and sing! Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Francis Scott Key (1779 - 1843) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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