  Okay, I'm having to resubmit this entry--had to delete it entirely after it published twice. So now it's a bit out of sequence, but here goes...
I walked into Sears last night after work because the tires I'd just had put on seemed to wobble. The effect was strong enough I could hear loose change rattling in the cupholder. There was no one behind the counter, so I stepped five feet to the right in order to check out a nice barbecue grill (which I bought), over a hundred bucks off on sale.
I chatted with the salesman and noticed an older woman come in and stand at the counter. The salesman noticed, too. He got on the store phone to the mechanics. "Flora, there's a lady out here in military uniform, she was actually here first. " But that lady who walked in behind me, she was not having it. She proceeded to assault the poor counter person with her conviction that her new tire had a broken belt. Another mechanic had told her so. The counterlady took her keys and left us all standing there...another man had come in behind her.
He had a kind look to him. Pushy Woman looked at the American flag on my uniform, sewn (with much trouble on my part--I had to keep ripping it off and recentering it) just underneath my combat patch. "Why is your flag backwards? " It is backwards, the stars and stripes live on the right side as you're looking at it. But the way she asked it, she clearly thought I'd just sewn it on wrong. When did I tatoo the red letters spelling IDIOT on my forehead? Me: "You know, I don't know, but I'm sure there's a reason. " She rolled her eyes, "After 23 years in the Air Force, I can tell you there's not always a reason.
It's probably a mistake. " !!! Here's where I stopped trying to be polite. "I can tell you that IN THE ARMY, when it comes to uniforms or customs and courtesies or The Flag , there is ALWAYS a reason. WE actually have three hundred years of history that come through in various ways. " My tone was downright nasty.
Meanwhile, an Infantry Captain walked in. She sniffed. "They're probably made in China and once they ordered them, they couldn't make it right. " Me: "Do you really think the Army is that STUPID? " I looked to the others for support. The Captain raised his eyebrows as if to ask what the trouble was. I gestured toward her. "This lady thinks we all put the flags on backwards BY MISTAKE. As if 300,000 soldiers are all complete imbeciles.
" Infantry Captain: "Actually, it's 'backwards' because as you're charging forward into battle, that's how it would look on the flagpole. The stripes are always forward...you'll never see it from behind, because we never retreat. It's NOT an accident. " Me: "Thank you! I just hadn't heard the reason yet. But I knew there was one. " Pushy Bitch: "Well, in the Air Force, they just put things on the uniform without much reason. " Me: "Well, the Air Force doesn't have three hundred years of tradition dictating these things.
" The counterlady came back and we all stood there in line rolling our eyes at each other as she spent the next ten minutes arguing about the broken belt--the Sears folks advocated it was some other defect, not a broken belt. This was after they had already agreed to replace the tire, so the whole conversation was completely pointless and I couldn't help but think she was stalling to make us suffer after she'd already been proved wrong once that day. She was unbearably pushy and the poor lady behind the counter was as patient as she could be. The store manager finally had to be called.
He asked what the problem was, heard the bitch's argument, and asked again what the problem was, since they'd already agreed to replace the tire. She finally left the store and I noted the time they'd told her to come back and get the vehicle, made a mental note not to be around at that time. I shook my head as I got to the counter. "And you were actually here first," the counterlady said. Me: "What a bitch! " Everyone laughed. 
