We tried to go to a Bellamy Brothers concert last night.
The evening began with a rousing tribute to our brave and glorious troops, after which the crowd burst into spontaneous applause because they, too, love our brave and glorious troops.
Then we were compelled to rise and recite the pledge of allegiance (I declined), after which the woman next to us, grinning from ear to ear, shouted "AMEN!" Several men, overcome with emotion, pumped their fists in the air.
Nobody but me seemed to notice that there wasn't actually a flag present.
Over an hour later the band still had not taken the stage. We looked around at the stone-faced polyester stretch pants and western shirts mindlessly contemplating their cell phones, and decided to call it a night.
We're giving up.
In the future, we'll drive a little farther to attend concerts that are more focused on music than some weird political/religious litmus test. East Texas is not for us.
Pete Seeger used to host a famous Strawberry Shortcake Festival in New England. It was purposely, decidedly non-political. He just wanted everyone to come, have some strawberry shortcake, and enjoy singing songs and each other's company.
I miss Pete.
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