A Flag is a Flag.. Except When it Isn't...

So I must relate my experience at the mall on Friday, simply because of the stunning stupidity involved.

Ok, most people who read my blog know that I live in South Carolina (the state that started the Civil War, etc etc). Anyone who knows me also knows that I would never be caught dead wearing a rebel flag.. not because I am not proud of my "Southern Heritage" but because the flag is associated with so much hate and hoopla and complete bullshiat that it has completely lost any other meaning it may (or may not!) have ever had. And I don't particularly relish being automatically classed with the beer-chugging, mullet-wearing, toothless, ignorant bigot that every newscaster in the country seems to find to put on camera anytime a story comes up in the South.

The truth is that most residents of SC don't even know the flag's history, or why so many people are offended by it. They are because "everyone is."

That's just a little background for my Friday Mall Experience. See, I went to get my hair done, and the salon is just across the street from the mall, so I went over to check out the Big Sales. There's a new shoe store there, so I stopped in to see what kind of cool shoes they had.

There were four people in the store: me, the salesgirl (white, blonde, bored), and three black teens.. two boys and a girl. I heard the three black youths discussing something rather heatedly, with the word "b!tch" featured quite prominently. I couldn't figure out what the fuss was about, and kept looking for the person they were talking about.

It took a moment to figure out that it was ME they were talking about. Did I mention that I was wearing a shirt that I bought on my honeymoon? Well, I was. It featured large text that said "OXFORD, ENGLAND", along with...
...a Union Jack. You know, the BRITISH FLAG.

I heard the black girl say "Y'all it's just a shirt!" And the two boys continue to deride my character for being "a damn racist" and other things I can't repeat here.

The salesgirl caught on pretty quickly and said "Oh! Oxford! Have you been to England?"

I replied "Oh yes! I went on my Honeymoon, to ENGLAND!!!" This while holding the shirt out from my chest and pointing adamantly at the HUGE white letters below the flag that said... ENGLAND.

The black girl was the only one who even registered the sarcasm. The change on her face was visible and mortified as she realized that the object of her friends' furor was not in fact a rebel flag at all. She literally averted her eyes and walked away from her two friends, who continued to talk about "that b!tch" until I left the store. It was so hard not to laugh out loud that there were tears threatening to roll down my face by the time I got back out to the main walkway of the mall. I felt so sorry for the poor black girl.. I would never have intentionally embarrassed someone that way, except it was just... necessary.

So, as a quick recap to those of you who may not have appreciated the incredible ignorance at work here, THIS is a rebel flag:
THIS is the Union Jack:

See the difference???

I don't care who you are or where you live... it oughta be pretty easy to tell one from the other.
If any sort of history or geography were taught in schools these days, I think this sort of thing would never happen.

Later:
Another adventure