The roads are packed, the supermarkets are bustling and downtown Bethany Beach will soon be swamped with revelers enjoying a parade, some horseshoes and the annual fireworks extravaganza.
Darin J. McCann
It’s definitely Fourth of July weekend.
And while much of the attention for locals this week focuses on rental properties, crowds and barbecues, it’s important that we take a moment to reflect on the significance of this particular holiday. In short, we celebrate freedom. The freedom to say or write what we feel, the freedom to worship how we see fit and the freedom to wear knee-high white socks with sandals without repercussions as we cruise the boardwalk.
The notion of a free society so eloquenly penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence grants more than just the written words of freedom — it also provides a sense of hope and optimism to all who read the sacred script. It instantly becomes clear upon perusing those golden words that this is a nation founded on the concept of individual liberties, and it frames a society created with the notion that nobody starts out his or her life lesser than anybody else.
That is a tremendous thought, isn’t it? We all start out with a blank slate (in theory), have the same opportunities presented us (in theory) and can do whatever we set our minds to with some good old-fashioned hard work and dedication (in theory).
But there is another freedom that is sometimes overlooked, and it is a freedom not unique to the United States — the God-given right to act like a mouth-breathing chowderhead. This is perhaps my favorite freedom of all, simply for voyeuristic purposes.
We’ll start this exercise domestically, with an incident that took place last weekend in Los Angeles. According to an Associated Press story, a 74-year-old woman drove her vehicle through the front window of a convenience store. Now, this kind of thing happens more than you’d think. Sometimes, it’s a case of a person unwittingly stepping on the gas instead of the brakes, or it might just be someone who misjudged the distance between the parking space and the store window. Heck, we’ve had it happen in this community on more than a few occassions. So, what makes this one stand out?
Well, according to reports, the woman got out of her car, walked up to the cooler and pulled out a six-pack of Budweiser for purchase. She, well, was not served by the cashier, and ended up being charged with driving under the influence and improper parking.
Fine, I made up the parking violation, but do you see what I did there? Using well-timed humor with ...
But I digress. And not a moment too soon.
Our next journey into the obtuse lands us in Scotland — home of William Wallace, the birthplace of golf and people going off the clock to, well, go.
The AP reported that Brown Brothers, a meat company in the town of Dumfriesshire, is requiring its employees to clock out of work when they use the toilet. The idea was reportedly part of an agreement between the company and employees to “ensure production ran smoothly.”
I certainly understand a company wanting to run as efficiently as possible, but isn’t this taking things a little far? The story went on to say that this is part of a grand plan “aimed at focusing toilet breaks at set times of the day.”
All I can say is that if I was being docked pay every time I went to the men’s room, and wanted to move things along swiftly, I’d probably join the time-honored Scottish tradition of wearing a skirt, too.
I’ll give all of you a second to erase that mental image of me in a skirt. Better now? Good, let’s roll.
As we continue to push our way of life into the Middle East, it’s comforting to see that some of our values are taking hold. The Wall Street Journal ran a story earlier this week that pretty much showed the similarities between Delawareans and people in the United Arab Emirates.
We’ve all seen the fascination by many in this state regarding their license plates — a black plate is good, and one with a small number is even better. Well, an Abu Dhabi man spend $14 million earlier this year for the right to carry a license plate with the number “1” on it. His cousin reportedly spent $9 million for “5” on his plate.
I’m just glad that we Americans can pass along the freedom of expression and insipid gluttony.
The last example I have this week for the spread of American ideas on freedom takes place in England — the historic “bad guys” in the American Revolution that is responsible for this holiday in the first place.
Another Reuters story (Don’t they have anything better to report on? Wait, don’t I have anything better to report on than what they’re reporting on?) tells the story of a student who wrote an expletive on an English language exam. For the record, that is all the student wrote on this particular exam, and the student got partial credit for “accurate spelling and effective communication.”
Free speech. Free expression. Yes, people, the American way of life is spreading globally.