Wednesday, June 04, 2014

High Tea and the Pledge of Allegiance

On a fool's errand, I drove over to Boscov's in pursue of their Easy Spirit shoes on sale.  They didn't have my size in the ones I really wanted and I bought a pair of open-toed numbers, as well as a somewhat dressy blouse.  While I was high-tailing it home, I realized my toenails needed attention--yes, I'm serious!--so after a quick shower, I rushed over to the nail place and dropped twenty-five bucks for a pedicure.  Got home to dress, put on the shoes and  blouse--then realized I didn't like either of them and decided to take them back.
Picked up Aline and we went to the high tea thing at Cusine on the Green.  It was kinda fun--we were served scones, finger sandwiches, and pots of tea while the C. on the G. chef gave a loosely-related presentation.  We sat with five other women whom we didn't know and I was gratified to have one of them recognize me and say she had seen me in Arsenic.  
Howsomever--some comical character used to say that, can't remember the circumstances and I realize it's not a word--yet again I found myself in a room full of middle-aged--oh, let's be honest, elderly women.
I don't know why I rebel against this; by anybody's reckoning, I'm an elderly woman myself.  Yet I'm bored, bored, bored being with people who seem all to have the same ideas, beliefs, and prejudices. They seem never to have had a original thought and if they ever questioned conventional wisdom, left off doing it long ago. That's one reason I cherish Aline's friendship so highly:  We can talk and discuss, even disagree, about serious topics that were long ago put to rest by the delicate ladies at High Tea.  
WIDER: To my surprise and annoyance, this little social affair was "opened" by the Pledge of Allegiance.  Of course, it was mandatory for everyone in the room, even the ones with the silly hats, to stand, face the flag (why was a flag even in the private dining room of a restaurant?), place hands over breasts, and recite--reverently, like a prayer and why should that make my blood run cold?--that homage to exceptionalism with which we all grew up.  Wikipedia calls it an "expression of fealty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States"; therefore, I stood silently and with my hands at my sides.
California is looking better and better.
   

1 comment:

Unknown said...

No one should stand for nor chant the Pledge of Allegiance because it was the origin of the Nazi salute and Nazi behavior (see the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry).

That is why the people you describe are boring, with the same ideas, beliefs, and prejudices, and never had an original thought, and never questioned conventional wisdom.

The pledge was written for kindergartners to be forced to recite it in government schools (socialist schools) on command and in unison. Why do people continue to open meetings with that anachronistic childish Nazi artifact known as the USA's Pledge of Allegiance?

The pledge was written by an American socialist who influenced other socialists worldwide, including German socialists. The pledge continues to be the origin of Nazi behavior even though the gesture was changed to hide the pledge's putrid past.

The early pledge began with a military salute that was then extended outward to point at the flag (thus the stiff-arm gesture came from the pledge and from the military salute). http://rexcurry.net

It is bizarre that it continues to exist (though the stiff-armed salute was altered) and that intelligent(?) adults have been duped into the mechanical propaganda chanting. The pledge is central to the US's police state and its continued growth.

Wednesday

It was quite an enjoyable day after all the must-do-this, can't-find-that of the last few.  Changed the bed, washed the sheets, and jump...