Reduced to Clear

        It was July of 1999 . I was making a delivery to a Walgreen s drug store. I had just finished stocking the coolers in the front of the store when I saw there markdown basket .You know , that shopping cart up by the cash register that has a sign , Reduced to clear. As I passed by 3 car flags caught my eye . In truth I had never seen one before. You know the kind you put in your car window. These three US flags must have been left over for the 4th of July. Something bothered Me about seeing Our flag in a markdown basket . So I bought all three.
   As the year went on and the same with the next. I would fly one of these flags on my delivery truck on the holidays . At the time I had to work most holidays . Only once in the following two years after buying the flags did any one ask me about them . He was a WWII vet . He asked where he could find one. In that two years ONLY one person
    September 11, 2001 We all remember that day. I was leaving for work When my neighbor told me one of the Twin Towers  was on fire. So I went back inside and Saw the second plane hit. At that time I knew what was happening . We the US of A where under attack. I was no longer working  for Arrowhead water but I remembered my flags . So I grabbed one before I started my sales route. Before I was done that day , at every stop people asked about my flag and where to find one. Sad it took that day for them to want one.
    Last week I was in Walmart  . I walked past the markdown rack and saw an American flag with a sign that said Reduced To Clear. How soon we forget  :(

                         Don't worry these are just the Ravings of an American WASP