Respect: In Search Of New Heroes

[CrimsonTide4]

By Nat Irvin
TBWT Guest Contributor
Article Dated 10/10/2002

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I am looking for a new kind of American hero. Not a soldier, firefighter or police officer, although the services of such people can never be fully appreciated, and we always need more.

This time, however, I am looking for the ordinary guy with the microphone, our local golden throats, the public-address announcers whose voices we hear when we attend high school and college football games.

I am looking for a guy with American guts. You know their voices. The guys who welcome us to the stadium with enthusiasm, who remind us where to buy the hot dogs and barbecue, who hustle raffle tickets to support school athletics programs, and who dutifully urge us to support those faithful local merchants who support our favorite home teams.

Let them speak out.

These local golden throats are very important people. They tell us whose kid did what, explain the referees' calls and set the stage for us to enjoy our community evening together. But given all the good that they already do, I think that there is something more important that they could do for the American spirit.

But it takes guts to do it.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, I had expected to see a dramatic difference in public behavior during the presentation of the colors and the playing of the national anthem at events. But here, just a few weeks after the anniversary observance, it seems that we Americans don't have enough civic decency to stop for barely two minutes to stand still and show a modicum of respect for our nation's highest symbol: the U.S. flag.

Just this past weekend at the Wake Forest-Virginia football game, there were people moving about during the presentation of the colors and the playing of the national anthem. Our group, which included teen-agers, looked on in disbelief.

Across the stadium, a large group of apparently unsupervised children played as if nothing were happening. People who should have known better were walking around, adults with "staff event" printed on their shirts; fans trying to find their seats; others along the sidelines.

Two minutes of time.

But my question is: What is it that anybody has to do that can't wait for 120 seconds while the National Anthem is being played? What is it? And why can't people just be still, out of common decency and respect?

I have seen similar behavior, though not as bad, at high school games. Kids, presumably with no supervision, just walking, talking. But I have also seen parents, walking during the anthem, looking for their seats while the band is playing.

It is such a disgusting sight that I wish some public announcer would have the guts to say something over the speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, excuse me, but the least any of us can do is to be still during the playing of the National Anthem. Until everyone is quiet and standing still, we will wait before the band plays."

It is the small things that make a community weak. It's also the small things that make a community great. We are fond of saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but it is shallow rhetoric unless we are all willing to say or do what ought to be done or said when it counts.

We complain about children's lack of respect for adults and that children don't look to something higher than themselves. But when it is our chance to do something about it, we adults do nothing.

I am waiting for the first person, the first public official, the first person with a microphone to say, "We are about to play the National Anthem; please have the decency to show your respect, or leave and we will give you a refund."

Where is our new hero? Our nation looks to you.