Twice a week, I go to the gym before work and grab a bagel and coffee at the local Bruegger's Bagels. It's a routine I thoroughly enjoy, and one I'd like to keep. I've been doing it for a few months now, and hopefully will keep it up through the fall into winter.
Across the street from the Bruegger's Bagels is a Patriot Bank. It opened not too long ago (I'm not sure when, I'll guess less than six months ago), and apparently some members of the community weren't too thrilled. For several weeks, there was a group of guys sitting at the corner protesting the bank for its name. Its very name was the issue. The odd part is that it's right next to a Bank of America, which has received a lot of criticism in the recent past for its loosely/poorly managed $500 line of credit program (which allowed illegal immigrants to get free money). But, the issue these protesters had was the use of "patriot" in the name. My guess is these men were Veterans. I'd drive by and give them a thumbs-up and honk my horn.
I honked my horn because I agree with them on at least one point: America needs to stop selling out patriotism. I'm mostly concerned with all those sales you see during federal holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and others. It's enough that there are so many sales around holidays. Now we're trying to find deals during "Independence Week"?
Don't get me wrong: I love capitalism. I think it's done great things for America, so maybe it does have a place in our celebrations in some way. But I also think we need to keep some things more sacred. Watering down all of the federal holidays by creating bogus ad campaigns around them can make people forget what that holiday is supposed to be celebrating. What I'm really trying to say is: Martin Luther King didn't want people to remember him by buying a goddamn Honda.
Across the street from the Bruegger's Bagels is a Patriot Bank. It opened not too long ago (I'm not sure when, I'll guess less than six months ago), and apparently some members of the community weren't too thrilled. For several weeks, there was a group of guys sitting at the corner protesting the bank for its name. Its very name was the issue. The odd part is that it's right next to a Bank of America, which has received a lot of criticism in the recent past for its loosely/poorly managed $500 line of credit program (which allowed illegal immigrants to get free money). But, the issue these protesters had was the use of "patriot" in the name. My guess is these men were Veterans. I'd drive by and give them a thumbs-up and honk my horn.
I honked my horn because I agree with them on at least one point: America needs to stop selling out patriotism. I'm mostly concerned with all those sales you see during federal holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and others. It's enough that there are so many sales around holidays. Now we're trying to find deals during "Independence Week"?
Don't get me wrong: I love capitalism. I think it's done great things for America, so maybe it does have a place in our celebrations in some way. But I also think we need to keep some things more sacred. Watering down all of the federal holidays by creating bogus ad campaigns around them can make people forget what that holiday is supposed to be celebrating. What I'm really trying to say is: Martin Luther King didn't want people to remember him by buying a goddamn Honda.
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