BURT: A flag, a beep and the search for pride in America
- By Bill Burt CNHI Sports Boston
One beep. One lousy beep.
I was conducting a test of sorts on Friday morning. I was repeating my 5-mile run from Wednesday.
With an American flag in one hand.
My story starts on Wednesday just over a mile into my run when I noticed three women semi-feverishly placing American flags in front of mail boxes.
I thought it was pretty cool.
I ran by them, taking an extra half-mile route down a dead end – it’s picturesque, quiet and favorite part of my run.
As I ran back from the dead end I noticed they were in front of me again, placing more flags. As I got to one woman, with about six flags in her hand, I asked if I could have one.
I thought I’d put one in front of my mailbox back home.
She handed it to me and said, “Thanks!” It caught me off guard, her thanking me for taking the flag.
Then immediately it hit me: I will run proudly with the flag the rest of my route, which includes a busy local road.
I knew I’d be running by a lot of cars.
And I was correct. I ran by lots cars, guessing about 150. I also ran by about 10 big trucks, which is par for the course on that route.
What did I expect with the flag?
Honestly. I expected a lot of beeps. Maybe a few shouts.
I got three beeps, one of them I basically coerced from a trucker.
I got two people who gave me a slight wave, a cop and a city worker.
That was it.
I was surprised. I’m not the biggest flag-waver. It’s not something I’ve ever done.
I figured I stuck out like a sore thumb, running with a flag, but I might as well have run without it.
I posted it on Twitter and got a few messages of disappointment, like myself.
But I promised to do it again the next day, which turned into two days because of a sore, lower back.
I grabbed the flag again and started running the same exact five-mile course.
For nearly four miles I got nothing. A cop sitting in a car gave me a slight acknowledgement with his head.
Then, about ¾ of a mile from home, I got a beep. I didn’t see the guy, only the back of his head.
As I tweeted out on Wednesday, I love our country, despite the big divide right now.
As I’ve also noted recently, during this strange, angry political climate, I’ve had zero issues with anybody the last month about anything.
Most people are friendly. I’ve had no yelling sessions – other than from my car – with anybody.
The point being I’m not really sure this “divide” is a real thing. In our everyday lives at stores, bars, gas stations, etc., we all get along pretty damn good.
Sure, it can get semi-heated during a lunchroom talk about Clarence Thomas or Joe Biden comments, but it’s usually respectable.
But I go back to the flag, which is supposed to represent, among other things, pride in our country.
Isn’t that something we all have in common. That we love our country, warts in all?
Put me on the record that I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Then I got to thinking about my original complaint, that I only got one beep.
But I am reminded, as my mother still often says, “All it takes is for you to affect one person and you can change the world for the better. Just one person.”
I’m not going to complain. And in fact, I want to thank that one beep.
Bill Burt is executive sports editor for The Eagle-Tribune. He has been covering sports for 39 years. You can email Bill at bburt@eagletribune.com.
