It’s called tailgating and it is a blast.
I could picture the display being considered intrusive, if it looks like it’s going to get excessive and garish, but offensive? Nah.
Wow, where and who?
I think he should have put up a couple more and told the people who complained about it to pound sand.
Prominently displaying a US flag in an unusual place (not a post office or a public school or courthouse) tends to be read as signal of a certain kind of Proud Conservatism, possibly an aggressive nationalism. As such it is a political statement, not a neutral thing. Inside a doctor’s office is definitely an unusual place. All the medical facilities I have ever had occasion to enter have always appeared to be decorated with strenuous blandness and inoffensiveness in mind. Like a motel room, only more expensive and not screwed to the wall in eight places. No flags.
I wouldn’t call it offensive exactly but it is certainly kind of in your face.
That’s quite the imagination you have.
This is how I would take it.
I agree with this.
If I saw a flag ostentatiously displayed like this in the lobby of a doctor’s office, i would presume he’s professing a right-wing political stance. And I’d seek another doctor (unless he was exceptionally good).
“Is the American Flag an ‘Offensive’ Symbol (in the USA)?”
No.
Is the American Flag an ‘Offensive’ Symbol (in the USA)?
On American soil? No, that is about the 3rd dumbest idea I have heard today and there were some strong contestants. The American flag is very pretty and completely non-offensive.
We need to regroup, bow our heads and savor one of my favorite songs in a moment of silence.
The veneration of the flag seems to be uniquely American. I’ve always found it strange, personally; even as a kid I didn’t get it. I haven’t said the pledge in decades (again, weirdly militaristic and vaguely Hitler Jugend-ish.)
Personally, I don’t really trust anyone who has one in a place of business. Reminds me of car dealerships.
Offensive? No. Silly and jingoistic? Possibly. And I certainly agree with t-bonham:
Somebody is going to be offended by anything I do - the trick is not to care.
“That guy flies the flag - he must be a jingoistic nationalist. That guy’s pants are sagging - he must be a drug dealer. That woman is wearing a tight skirt - she must be a whore.” Etc.
Regards,
Shodan
Offensive? No, but it would strike me as out of place in a Dr.'s office. I’m there for access to Doc’s education and medical experience, and as such I would rather see credentials, diplomas, newspaper & magazine clippings espousing Doc’s achievements, photos of Doc in some 3rd world country working with ebola patients (several years ago)–stuff that bolsters my confidence in Doc’s abilities, dedication to healing, and experience.
Whether it’s a political statement or a reminder to all that Big Brother is watching, even in the examination room, it just begs the question, “Why is that there?” I think of dictatorships where you have The Leader’s face on every wall or don’t you love our leader? Except instead of worshipping some accountable leader, we’re worshipping an unaccountable symbol, an umbrella absorbing the actions of a corporation of … [rant deleted].
I also don’t care to see it on sports gear, except when there’s an international competition.
[quote=“Shagnasty, post:30, topic:706169”]
We need to regroup, bow our heads and savor one of my favorite songs in a moment of silence.
[/QUOTE]“In silence” is the only way that song can be enjoyed. Volume all the way off. Maybe turning off the video as well.
Ahh…that’s nice.
Even though most Americans are nominally Christian, having religious trappings in the office can be seen as offensive to some patients, who regard it as shoving something down their throats. Religious faith and patriotic zeal can both be regarded as being cut from the same cloth. Nobody, for reason of birth, is obliged to be a religious nor a patriotic person. Both are personal matters, that are usually best kept to themselves.
A lot of Americans might be starting to get pretty tired of having flag-waving carried out to such an excess as it has been since 9-11, and your doctor might be perceptive of that. It’s not the flag itself that is found offensive, but the in-you-face attitude that flag wavers feel themselves not just entitled, but obliged to be. Like Fox News pundits who seem to think that anyone not wearing a flag lapel pin is a terrorist at heart – an attitude that is pretty easy to find offensive.
Being a filthy furriner I can tell you that often immigrants to this country are just as likely if not more to hang a gigantic American flag up and not be offended by it. We have more to prove, for one, and for another, we went through a lot to get to this country - why wouldn’t we be proud of it?
I don’t think the American flag is offensive. I don’t like it on clothes or trucks, but I think that’s more tacky, especially when you are flying a tattered POS. Don’t do that! But I would find it a little weird to find it in my doctor’s office. Do I need to know you are patriotic before you treat my allergies? Am I supposed to salute it or something when I come in?
I would not be offended at all. He feels it necessary and that is good enough for me.
I would however, probably not wear my Che Guevara t-shirt to my appointment.
This.
I’ve fought under that flag, so it means a bit more to me than it might to some.
But jingoism is disgraceful. As well as positively un-American. Meanwhile, frequently in the last decade or so that’s all many people mean when they show a flag. And the more out-of-the-ordinary the display is, the more likely it is to represent little other than jingoism.
The OP’s Dr.'s flag wasn’t offensive in and of itself. The message the OP’s Dr. meant to transmit possibly (probably?) was.
The only time I find it offensive is when businesses put up super-de-dooper giant size flags on giant poles just to get around local zoning laws limiting the size of signs. To me, it says “oh just look how patriotic I am! Shop at my business!” A small flag in a doctor’s office, not so much. It might be a bit over the top if it took up half a wall or something. More tacky than offensive, though.
CAN the American flag be an offensive symbol? Occasionally, yes. It depends on the time, the place, and the circumstances.
I have an American flag at home, one that I fly only a few days a year (the 4th of July, Memorial Day, perhaps one or two other specila occasions). If anyone were to suggest I should take it down because it was offensive, I’d scoff.
There are a few proud, elderly veterans in my neighborhood who fly their American flags nearly every day. I don’t see any reason to do that, but I’d defend their right to do so, and would reject any suggestion that the flag is “offensive.”
But once in a while, there are racists who choose to fly American flags or wear clothing displaying American flags, and sometimes they are obviously doing so to get a rise out of foreign (usually Mexican) neighbors or classmates. Those guys aren’t being patriotic (though they’d likely pretend disingenuously that they were), and I’d understand if they were called out for being obnoxious and insulting.
To use a hypothetical… a guy who rarely flies a US flag but makes a point of flying one on Cinco De Mayo is going out of his way to be a jerk, and I’d understand some people finding that offensive.