Any Perkins Restaurant near you flying its flag at half mast?

Boyo_Jim · May 15, 2009, 6:44pm

The Perkins near me has a HUGE flag and I saw it flying at half mast today. So I called them and asked who died.

The woman who answered said, “No one. President Obama declared today National Peace Day, and we’re observing the day this way.”

Except, AFAIK, Obama DIDN’T declare today National Peace Day, not did anyone else. Googling for the term brings up a few stories about movements to declare a national peace day, and various national observances calendars don’t have any such thing.

So is this a local imagining, or is the whole chain suffering this delusion?

Little_Plastic_Ninja · May 15, 2009, 6:46pm

Apparently National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day?

Boyo_Jim · May 15, 2009, 6:54pm

Ooh, seems a good bet. I saw that the state DOT building and the local post office’s flags are flying normally, so I couldn’t figure it out. But I would guess that as a 24-hour restaurant, Perkins has lots of cop customers.

But they didn’t do much of a job explaining it to their staff.

Troy_McClure_SF · May 15, 2009, 7:12pm

What does a lowered flag have to do with peace (or with anything, these days. I see lowered flags so often I don’t even notice them anymore)?

gigi · May 15, 2009, 7:13pm

It’s a memorial day for police officers killed on duty.

Munch · May 15, 2009, 8:01pm

The flag in front of the City-County Building in Indianapolis is at half-mast.

Boyo_Jim · May 15, 2009, 11:45pm

It’s suitable for mourning slain police officers, but would be a lousy choice for observing “peace day”.

jasonh300 · May 16, 2009, 5:37am

Doesn’t the flag code have pretty specific rules for flying the flag at half staff…I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t fly the flag at half mast for “National Peace Day” if such a thing existed.

The slain police officers memorial sounds more like something you’d do that for, but I also vaguely remember something about this in years past and the thing to do was to drive with your headlights on during that day.

Thudlow_Boink · May 16, 2009, 1:34pm

I’m raising polecats for peace!

IvoryTowerDenizen · May 17, 2009, 3:16am

It’s not “Peace day”, it’s “Peace Officers Memorial day”.

Peace officers are, apparently, federal, state and local law enforcement and honors those officesr who were killed or disabled while on duty.

apollonia · May 17, 2009, 4:00am

Traditionally, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of May. Your local restaurant may have jumped the gun a little bit by lowering the flag yesterday?

Loach · May 17, 2009, 12:17pm

wiki:

In the United States, the President can issue an executive order for the flag of the United States to be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States government, and others, as a mark of respect to their memory. When such an order is issued, all government buildings, offices, public schools and military bases are to fly their flags at half-staff. Under federal law (4 U.S.C. § 7(f)), the flags of states, cities, localities, and pennants of societies, shall never be placed above the flag of the United States; thus, all other flags also fly at half-staff when the U.S. flag has been ordered to fly at half-staff.

Governors of the several U.S. states or territories are authorized by federal law to order all U.S. and state flags in their jurisdiction flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for a state official or resident who has died. Since a governor’s executive order affects only his or her state, not the entire country, these orders are distinguished from presidential proclamations.

Under 4 U.S.C. § 7(m) the flag of the United States is to be flown at half-staff in following circumstances:[14]

For thirty days after the death of a current or former president, as occurred after the death of President Reagan and the death of President Ford.
For ten days after the death of a current vice president, chief justice, or speaker of the House of Representatives.
From the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a secretary of an executive or military department, a former vice president, or the governor of a state, territory, or possession.
On the day of death and the following day for a member of Congress- i.e. a senator, a representative, a delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
On Memorial Day until noon.
Upon presidential proclamation, which have recently included: the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks,[15] the death of Pope John Paul II,[16] the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003,[17] the victims of Hurricane Katrina,[18] the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami,[19] the deaths of Coretta Scott King[20] and Rosa Parks,[21] and the Virginia Tech massacre.[22]
US federal law requires the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. Yearly presidential proclamations also mandate that the flag be flown at half-staff on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7),[23] and September 11 (Patriot Day).[24]

4 U.S.C. § 7(m) was modified with new legislation signed into effect on June 29, 2007 by President Bush, requiring any federal facility within a region which proclaims half-staffing to honor a member of the US Armed Forces who died on active duty, to follow the half-staffing proclamation. [25]

From wikipedia. Bottom Line: The woman at Perkins is an idiot.

Boyo_Jim · May 17, 2009, 1:33pm

Thank you. I got that early on.

Johnny_L.A · May 17, 2009, 1:42pm

Aiyiyi… I read the title as ‘Anthony Perkins Restaurant’. Considering the Norman Bates character was loosely based (or inspired by) on Ed Gein, I wondered [del]who[/del] what was on the menu!

Tamex · May 17, 2009, 3:55pm

Huh. Curiously enough, I noticed on Friday that a local gas station had it’s flag at half-mast, but that the Perkins down the street did not. Thanks for solving that mystery.