Strange Bedfellows

Editor's Note: The following is a faithful recreation of facts. Any personal affront taken by the reader by any comment made by the author (directly or by implication) is therefore the reader's own personal problem. If a frank discussion of the strange juxtaposition that some people seem to have between their political views and their personal iconography (or a rash generalization here and there) is likely to offend, please do not read today's screed. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Yesterday at lunch I saw something incredible. So incredible, in fact, that you may have trouble believing it. A lorry cut me off at the roundabout on Summer Road. Now, as this is not anything to write home about, you may ask yourself why I am, in fact, writing home about it. Well, it was the mixed message that the lorry was sending. My eye was caught by the stars and bars proudly displayed in the front window.

Yes, the Stars and Bars! THE STARS and BARS! That's right, the battle flag of the Confederate States of America during the War Between the States. I have no idea what the reason for having the confederate battle flag on display in the London suburbs may be, but there it was! I am pretty sure that whatever it means it cannot have the same meaning over here as it would back home. The driver of the Lorry was a young black man; wearing a pink tee-shirt that sported a purple triangle. Hmmm...

Now, I'm not saying that the person displaying the flag may have wanted to rethink their position, but I have a strong suspicion that the guy driving the lorry didn't ascribe to the "values" that the flag represents. I know, you're thinking that perhaps the guy was from the south. Not unless he was from the south of England.

When he opened his mouth and screamed at the car that tried to get around him as he was trying to maneuver through the roundabout into a different road, well, let's just say that no self-respecting southerner I know would ever call someone a "Tosser" in such a definitely un-American accent.

His mate was definitely not American either. (Or he was doing the best fake accent I have ever heard!) The epithet he was using for the driver of the car was "Wanker."

Now I am not saying that the all southerners are homophobic and racist, I'm not even implying that all of the ones that I know are homophobic and racist, I am merely saying that there is a really good chance that if you pass a car that displays that symbol in the states, you're likely to find it being driven by someone who... Well lest just say someone that the driver of the lorry would not likely be inviting down to his local for a pint.

Now, I'm the last person to judge someone (Or if I am not the very last, I have at least done it as recently as a few lines back up this page.) but I would say that one should be more careful of the symbols one wishes to proudly display. They say a lot about you - whether you want them to or not!

I hope that wherever you are today you are showing your best face to the world!

Don Bergquist - 01 September 2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK