Flag-O-Rama!

Letter from Lori

Here's a letter which has been on the front page of the site for quite some time because it's a good read, so I wanted to bring it over here.

From: Porscha Porscha
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 12:21 PM
Subject: American flag-waving stuff

I thought your site was an absolute riot. I work in a retail business (who's name has been omitted to protect the innocent... namely, me, so that I don't get fired) and was unpacking some freight, and making off-handed (probably rude) comments about how sick it is to exploit an American flag the way they are.  My co-workers started busting my hump about being un-American.... funny thing about that right of freedom of speech...

My grandfathers were both army men, my father was, and so is my husband.  They didn't risk their lives doing what they do to have plastic flag stickers stuck on the bumpers of those gas-guzzling soccer-mom SUVs that cut me off on the highway at a blinding 90 mph.

It's about damn time somebody realizes how terribly ridiculous it is to have American-flag shingles for your house (yes, they really do exist), American flag sunglasses (seen 'em), American flag toothbrushes (my MOTHER, of all people, has one of those), and American flag beer coolers (because, of course, nothing is more American than getting drunk and throwing empty beer cans into our nation's natural waterways, right?).

Anyhow, I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to make people laugh (those of us with our heads NOT crammed up our asses, that is). You've got a great sense of humor, and it's definitely appreciated, even if only by those of us who smirk instead of smile.

~Lori~

Letters from 2003

I started the Flag-O-Rama site back in late 2002, and didn't get much feedback about it...until April 2003.  I don't know what happened, but the URL must have showed up somewhere with some exposure because suddenly I was swamped with emails.  All through April and May, I got a ton of mail as the link got passed around, eventually showing up on such admirable giants as This Modern World and Democracy Means You.  But the mail was 95% positive, which kind of stunned me.  I fully expected to get a lot of hate mail, but I really didn't.  And it wasn't all simply "I love your site!" stuff...there were some very insightful emails from people who wanted to share their ideas and experiences regarding patriotism and what it means.  Some were even military folks who hated seeing the flag used this way.  It was interesting to see who came out of the woodwork to comment.

Since all these mails were posted on the original site, I wanted to bring them over here...not to toot my own horn, but because I appreciate people taking the time to express their opinion.  It's nice to know that other people out there are sick of the flag being used and abused for profit and are able to laugh at such crapola.  Anyway, the biggest surge of emails came between April and May of 2003, so if you'd like to read 'em, click one of those links!

I'm willing to post new emails here if they have something interesting to say, but people are always welcome to comment directly on the posts as well.