Back in the day, and being 72, there are, thank goodness, a whole lot of days to count; our family vacations consisted of visiting my Aunt’s family, who lived in Youngstown, Ohio. We lived in Pittsburgh, and although Youngstown was maybe 1.5 hours away, the mere fact we had to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and eventually connect to the Ohio Turnpike, was one wonderful adventure. To think that we would leave one state and arrive in another, was true excitement; I mean that was so cool!
My mother was the best ever cook and baker. No one else’s Mom could compare, but somehow as we approached Howard Johnson’s Rest Stop during this arduous trip, the mere idea of sumptuous homemade sandwiches and cupcakes seemed less appealing than some plastic-wrapped day-old sweet dessert, or a most likely overly grilled hot dog, served by Howard Johnsons. The moment my sister and I read the “Next Howard Johnson’s 26 miles, bring your taste buds inside,” advertisement, we began begging, pledging just his time if we stop we will never ask again! After the usual “we have three different kinds of sandwiches, a dozen cupcakes in the car, you don’t need anything,” monotone rebut from my mother, my father would say, “okay, just this once!” AMAZING aromas, various flavors of ice cream, and the plumpest EVER hot dogs dazzled our senses, and this made the 1.5-hour VACATION, a real VACATION!
We did not travel out of town a whole lot, but when we did, we played the License Plate Game. You know, the game when you identify strange colored License Plates from states you only saw on a map. And then we played, the game listing all of the states in which there was a License Plate not only on the back of the car but on the front (OMG, why didn’t Pennsylvania require that!) And back in those days, it seemed that each state had a unique color, an identifiable color scheme!
I write this rant, to make a point about the absurdity of Pathetic Acts of Patronizing Patriotism. After 9/11, most states immediately decided that they would change their state License Plates to some sort of Red, White, and Blue. Old Glory was everywhere, this IS our country was the message. I got it, WE WERE ATTACKED, our Democracy encroached upon. January 6, this nation was once again ATTACKED. But have you noticed, since that attack the only Flags that seem to be waved are the Confederate Flag, The Nazi Flag, and the Gadsden Flag, “Don’t Tread On Me.”
