In return, I’ll respond to your question about why I’d call the cops for an improper flag display. I’m a veteran. I love my country, and I respect my country’s flag. It displeases me when the flag is improperly displayed, whether out of ignorance or out of spite. I’d like the person to display the flag correctly, or at least understand how he should display the flag correctly. Calling the cops, on the non-emergency number as I specified when I made the statement, seems to be the appropriate way to resolve the situation. If the guy is acting in good faith, then he’ll learn something I consider valuable. If he’s making a statement of some kind, no harm, no foul.
There are no penalties for violating anything in the flag code, so what do you think the police are going to do about your complaint?
Personally, I think they are going to politely end the phone conversation as soon as possible and then afterwards have a chuckle amongst themselves about concerned citizens who apparently think that the police don’t have real work to do.
We get acculturated with it in school, or through Scouting. Of course, some people don’t.
I notice when flags are displayed wrongly and it does annoy me a little. Seriously, people who burn an American flag as a protest are showing more respect for the symbol than people who leave their unlighted flags up at night, or out in the rain.
If I felt neutral or kindly towards my Elbonian neighbor, I might mention to him it would be better to put the US flag above the Elbonian one. Lest he run into assholes like somebody’s aunt did upthread.
I don’t think it would ever occur to me that my neighbor was doing it as an intentional sign of disrespect, any more than I think my local car dealership is when they fly the California flag slightly higher than the US flag.
I still don’t understand how you think it’s any of your business, and certainly don’t see how it’s any of the police department’s business since no law is being broken, and he’d be doing you no injury. You don’t have a right to not be offended.
I guess the SS could learn a thing or two from your cops.
Surely there’s a difference between ‘non-emergency’ and ‘non-criminal’?? I’d make an official police complaint if they dared to harrass me over something like this.
It’s my business because it’s the flag of my country. Do not start on the law thing again, you’ve been proven wrong and acknowledged the error. That part of the conversation is over.
The cops will respond, at least in my area, because proper display of the flag is a matter of public concern. If you’re going to do it, you should do it correctly.
Yeah. A local cop politely instructing a citizen is exactly like a Nazi dragging somebody off to the death camps. Excellent analogy there. Not at all ridiculously over the top or anything.
Sorry, but no, it’s the flag of your neighbor. His property, his business what he does with it. The cops would have no reason to respond because it would not be a violation of the law (once again, the flag code only says “should”), and it’s not a matter of public concern just because you say so.
I don’t think the police are going to take this sort of thing very seriously. I have an uncle who is a cop (a police chief, actually) and I’m going to see him at the family reunion on Sunday, so I’ll ask him about this and report back. He’s super-ultra-conservative, by the way, so his answer will not be biased due to having a soft spot for pinko USA-hating incorrect flag displayers.
Why bother law enforcement with a minor community matter? Why not go over there yourself for a friendly chat? Involving cops seems like a waste of tax dollars.
Oakminster, if possible and appropriate, perhaps you could contact your local police force and ask them about this? I’d be genuinely intrigued to know what they say.
The mere idea that police would harass some poor immigrant because their display of the flag was somehow improper, based on a complaint from Mrs. Kravitz next door, is bizarre to me.
It’s not even like they’re burning the flag while shouting “Death to infidels!” They are attempting to show pride in their new country while also honouring their past. If it really is such a major faux pas, and you’re already friends with them, then a polite conversation is all that is warranted at best, if only to avoid some other busybody trying to call the cops on them. If you’re not friends, MYOB.
Oakminster, so what’s stopping you from going over and explaining to your neighbor the proper way to display a flag? Calling 911 only takes time away from REAL EMERGENCIES.
Jesus. If someone called the cops on me for such a thing, I’d be tempted to burn the flag on my lawn, just to piss off said neighbor.
(Now, if he were displaying a Cleveland Browns or Philadelphia Flyers banner, I might have to go over have a little chat…)
In fairness, Oakminster didn’t say he’d call 911, only the non-emergency police number. Still completely unwarranted, in my opinion, but let’s not misstate what he daid.