I spent yesterday in the field, talking to people flying flags in front of their businesses. I thought you might be interested in the results of my non-scientific survey of the current state of the flags flying in this area.
- 50% need repair (normal mending)
- 15% need replacing (beyond mending)
- 2% are missing pieces (out of the 15% above)
- 20% fly corporate flags
- 80% fly both U.S. and Texas flag
- 50% have two or more flagpoles
- 5% fly only Texas flag
- 15% fly only U.S. flag
- 5% repair flags when ends start fraying
- 100% say flags don’t last as long as they would like
I find these statistics very interesting from a business view-point. Sixty-five percent of all the flags flying on the front of buildings or flagpoles needed mending or replacement. Many of the people I talked to weren’t aware of the condition of their flags until I pointed it out.
I don’t know if these numbers represent a national trend, but that would be a very interesting survey to conduct. I picture it going something like this.
Question: "Do you fly the U.S. flag in front of your business?"
Business: "Uh, I’m not sure, let me go out front and look."
Business: "Yes, we have a large flag pole and there’s a flag on it."
Question: "Is it the American flag or your state flag?"
Business: "Uh, I’m not sure, let me go back out and look."
Business: "It’s a U.S. flag."
Question: "What condition is it in?"
Business: "Uh, I’m not sure, let me check."
Business: "It looks pretty bad."
Question: "How will you replace your flag?"
Business: "You can replace them?"
Well, enough of that … but you get the point. That’s close to several conversations I had in person. I think it would get frustrating and take a long time to do it via telephone.
What does that say about our respect for the American flag? (not good, I think)
What are your thoughts? Do you have a different opinion? Let us know. We’re listening …
