Weblog
06/28/02 09:06 PM: high school graduation
So, yeah, I am officially a high school graduate now. The graduation ceremony was at Holland Stadium, which is at one of the middle schools here. We had to get there early and go to our assigned rooms in the middle school and then we lined up and whatnot for the procession. As we went out the door, we were each handed a cheap plastic flag on a little wooden stick. I found this cheesy display of “patriotism” funny in its own right, but it was even better because the phrase “MADE IN CHINA” was written very visibly in very large letters on them. They also ended the ceremony by playing “God Bless the USA.” I don’t know, I just found that a bit tacky or something.
But I have mixed emotions sometimes about that stuff. It might have been the sun in my eye, or it might have been my astonishment that someone in my class could sing so well, but I did sort of shed a tiny tear during the national anthem. And there is that part of “God Bless the USA that goes, “I’m proud to be an American / where at least I know I’m free, / And I won’t forget the men who died / who gave that right to me.” Perhaps that’s a bit idealistic, but it did cause me to think. Whether or not you agree with the cause, you have to have some respect for people who would fight and die for something they believe in. This sounds corny and I don’t much like it and I would probably grimace if somebody else wrote this and I was reading it. I don’t think I phrased all of this very well. No matter how hard you try, the words that you use to describe your thoughts never quite convey exactly what it is you mean to say.
