Small Town, USA... They Warm my Heart

While we were at the ice hockey game, they played the National Anthem. One young man forgot to take off his hat. The guy behind me, under his breathe, between stanzas, kept coughing, “hat”. The guy didn’t hear. Finally a woman leaned over, tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to his head. Turning eight shades of red, he removed his hat immediately. And you need to trust me on this, if he had been belligerent and disrespectful and NOT removed his hat, everyone around him would have given him some serious crap about it. Disrespect to the National Anthem or the Flag of the United States of America is not tolerated in Pensacola.

So this made me think… is this a Southern thing? Is this a small town thing? Or is this a Military town thing?

After thinking, I decided it is NOT a Southern thing. Although this is what I know and I’ve been seen it in Southern towns, I know enough mid-westerners to know that they wouldn’t tolerate disrespect either. You don’t really want to get me started on the NY City/NJ types… I’m a bit jaded on them since I live with so many of them in West Palm and have found so many of them selfish, rude, and obnoxious. (No offense to my readers from that area... seriously. I only know what I have experienced in my neck of the woods.) But they are the exception, so I believe it is NOT a Southern thing.

That brings me to my conclusion that it is a combination of small town/military town as to why the deep patriotism and intolerance to those who are disrespectful. From the time these kids grow up, they know, you wear a cap, you pull it off during the National Anthem. I’m surprised the movie theaters here still don’t play it before every showing. It would be kind of nice if they brought that back…