For the past school year Mr. S has been working as an elementary school custodian, which means that he is in charge* of raising the flag in the morning and taking it down if it starts raining. (The night custodian takes it down at the end of the day.)
On Monday I asked him if he had raised the flag correctly to half-staff (all the way to the top first, then lower it to half), and he said he forgot, but would do so the rest of the week (last week of school). This engendered a discussion of next year, when HE will likely be the night guy in charge of taking the flag down. He’d like to be able to fold it correctly,** but isn’t sure how—not about the twice-in-half-and-then-triangles bit, but how to accomplish that alone. The current night guy just folds it in squares like a towel, so he’s no help. Saw a movie once in which Eric Stoltz played a one-armed veteran who raised and lowered the flag in the community park every day, but I can’t recall whether they showed him actually doing it from start to finish. I do recall him using his teeth at one point, and I think Mr. S would like to avoid that. But if a (fictional) one-armed guy can do it, surely Mr. S can with two.
I’ve searched online, but all the directions I’ve found only describe the usual two-person method. I’m assuming that a one-person version would involve doing the lengthwise folds while the flag is still partly attached to the halyard. Has anyone ever had to do this, and do you have any suggestions/tips?
We both wonder why this task isn’t assigned to a couple of students. For a time my friend and I were the flag-raisers at my elementary school when we were in the sixth grade, and we really liked having that special little job.
** Want to deride the silliness of this ritual, or argue whether the flag code constitutes “worshipping a piece of cloth”? Do it elsewhere, please. I’m interested in a procedure, not a debate. Thanks.
I was wondering why the kids don’t do it. At my son’s elementary school, the kids on the safety patrol do it at the end of the school day. It’s a rotating job. I wonder if he could propose that option to the principal. Maybe he could bring up the fact that it’s supposed to be folded a certain way, and one person can’t do it alone.
My dad taught me how at an early age (actually my dad and my sister), folding kingsize bed sheets with help or by myself.
By the time I got to the fifth grade, I was in charge of the full size d flag at school (and I mean that sucker was BIG) and frequently had to fold it by myself.
What I would do is lower it as low as I could, grasp the two free corners, then lower it the rest of the way, holding the flag aloft from the ground. Then I would unhook the bottom corner, fold the flag in half lengthwise, and again, then start doing the triangle fold. By the time it was mostly folded, I could unhook the last corner and finish folding it, then stow it properly in the Safety Patrol room or Front Office.
I don’t see the treatment of the flag with respect as ‘worship’ … to me worship and supplication go hand in hand. We don’t pray to it (well, maybe if you speak the “under God” part during the Pledge); it’s just treated with respect, much like prayer books or shawls at Temple. You don’t use it for rolling papers or mopping up spills, but you don’t freak if it gets knocked to the floor accidentally.
That wouldn’t work for several reasons. One, he’ll (probably) be working at a different school next year (different district), and definitely not at this one. Two, this principal is retiring. Three, they run things rather screwy at this school. For Arbor Day, they had a field trip . . . to a dairy farm. What do cows have to do with trees? And it wasn’t even a “family farm” where the kids might see a tree or two, but an industrial farm. We were flummoxed.
But maybe he can mention it at the new school, if they don’t do it that way.
I’ll show him Mynn’s description. Good to know it can be done!
I mentioned the “worship” thing because I’ve seen similar diatribes in the past and I wanted to head them off at the pass. I’m with Mynn on the respect thing.
My memory is rusty … I might have unhooked the top instead of the bottom (reviewing the physics in my head, that makes more sense, so I fold the flag ATOP the secured corner) first. But play with the procedure, see if it works.
Maybe there were trees at the dairy farm? “Look kids, trees! Now, on to the cows…”
And thanks, Mynn. I’m too uncoordinated to try that myself.
I did help my son (7 years old) learn how to do it for Cub Scouts, and it’s quite easy with two people, but I could never do it on my own without draping it across a chair or something.
When I was in school, the flag was raised and lowered by duos of special needs kids. My elementary school hosted all the blind, deaf or otherwise disabled kids in the district. The only kid who didn’t get to physically participate in the folding was the one kid with cerebral palsy, but they let him carry the flag into the building on his lap.
Here is a Canadian flag store website that explains a process for “breaking” a flag, which is a neat way to raise it in a little bundle and then unfurl it at the top of the flag staff. If you reverse the process, you could unhook it at the bottom, fold it twice vertically and then twice horizontally and you’d be able to put it away neatly. I think the triangular fold is only needed when the flag is to be stored.
But if a (fictional) one-armed guy can do it, surely Mr. S can with two.
What do cows have to do with trees? And it wasn’t even a “family farm” where the kids might see a tree or two, but an industrial farm. We were flummoxed.