If you have read my bio you know that I live in a small town called Port Perry in Ontario Canada. It's a very quaint little town which relies heavily on tourists who come year round to visit the unique shops which adorn our main street. It's very Norman Rockwellish.
For a very long time Smart Centers had been trying to bring Walmart to our outskirts. I among many was not excited at this prospect fearing that our downtown shops would suffer. I said I would not shop there but would rather travel 15 minutes south to a different Walmart if I really needed to. So the store has been built and open for a few months now. It's a smaller store and doesn't carry more than half of the products found in the large superstores. So here I go. I will admit that I have been frequenting the store. At first I was actually a little embarassed going there given my original stance on the issue.
Today I needed a couple of things and decided to make the three minute trek. It was bitter cold and windy in Port Perry today. As we neared the Smart Center plaza and Walmart store I noticed how big the Canadian flag was that blew gloriously in the wind. It made me feel good and proud to be Canadian. Then it occured to me that Walmart and Smart Centers are American companies. I thought of how patriotic Americans are and how proudly they fly their flags at their homes and businesses. It seems that everywhere you go in the USA you see the American flag flying proudly for all to see (it's a nice feeling to drive through their neighborhoods and see this). At that moment I felt a little sad that it was our American companies who were showing us how to be patriotic and who were flying our flag so proudly for us. I started to think about the fact that the biggest flags that I see flying are usually at Walmart and Smart Center entrances. Is this because they are American and it is in their nature to be so patriotic? Even with the financial mess in the USA it's next to impossible to find an unpatriotic American. I thought back to when Welcome to Mooseport was filmed in town and how many American flags were flying to make our town look like it was in the USA. There was so much patriotism and pride (American) in town.
So why aren't we so patriotic ourselves? The flags at our government buildings are nowhere near the size of those at Smart Center and Walmart entrances. Why is this and why don't more of us fly the Canadian flag outside of our homes? We seem to be quick to fly the Toronto Maple Leaf flags on our automobiles but I don't think I've seen a handful of Canadian flags in town or in Ontario for that matter (other than at the border or city halls). I for one am going to look into getting a flag for my home and making sure that I know how to display it properly.Who knows maybe it will catch on and more people will start to show their patriotism too.
