Australian Flag Unwelcome In Florida!

PA-C in Texas · Apr 9, 2004

I know this really offends you as it does me, but I would just like to point out (for your own peace of mind) that people get sued for flying the US FLAG outside of their home. So they might not just hate Australia, they might just be haters in general.

Grace Oz · Apr 9, 2004

Appreciate your reply, thanks.

People who feed off hatred, end up with empty stomachs!

I think it's pathetic as well as very sad.

And, yes, as a VERY proud Aussie, I'm extremely insulted & feel for my fellow Aussie who is contending with this situation.

Cheers,

Grace

PA-C in Texas · Apr 9, 2004

And the thing is, I could maybe understand the motivations of these people if the flag was Iranian or Lybian or something, even though I don't believe in suing someone just because you don't like what they are doing.

But Australia? I mean for Chrissakes! We are not talking about our fair-weather friend France! You couldn't ask for a better friend and ally, and I think that Australians who live here should be proud of our friendship and of their country, so hopefully this nasty mess will get thrown out in discovery.

2ndCareerRN · Apr 9, 2004

Actually, it is not hatred that causes these people to object to the Australian flag. It is "the rules".

In America there is a terrible ruling body called "The Homeowners Association" (herewith known as Association Nazis, or AN for short).

When you move into a community under the control of the AN's you give up all freedom of choice on what you do to the outside of your property. Their rules are "for everybody", and "for the good of the community". Most often the AN's are retired busybodies who have nothing better to do than to look for infractions of their "rules". Apparently this flag was a violation of the "rules" that these fine people agreed to abide by when they moved into the "community". I can guarantee you that the flag is just the tip of a large and terrible iceberg. You can't leave cars parked over a certain amount of time, can't repaint your house unless you use approved colors, can't do an addition to the house without approval, and just about anything else you can think of. I assume that in Florida, pink flamingos wuld be OK as a decoration, but perhaps not. I know for a fact there is an Association in Idaho that does not think pink flamigos are an appropriate outdoor decoration in your yard. Just ask my best friends that live there. Now we go out of our way to plant flamingos in the yards of the AN's. (We have quite a few left over from a party!!)

So, as you can see, it is not a purposful snub. If the flag was Irish, British, Italian, or from Djibouti, the results would be the same. The AN's have a very narrow and one track mind.

Why anyone would voluntarily give up the freedoms they do to live in a "community" under the rule of AN's is beyond me. Perhaps they just like being told what to do, and when to do it.

So, although it is hard not to take it personally, I hope this helps explain a little bit. I have become somewhat used to the American flag being disrespected throughout the world, even here in the US.

bob

http://heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9211318%255E662,00.html

bob

oramar · Apr 9, 2004

There is always a jerk out there somewhere. That is a neat flag.

scrubs70 · Apr 9, 2004

Isn't it a sad state of affairs when we have people with nothing better to do with their lives than make idiotic rules in order to maintain a uniform neighbourhood. What sort of place would it be to live if everybody looked, thought and acted the same.

It unfortunately taints the "Land of the Free" which I must say is the home of many wonderful people.

emmy · Apr 9, 2004

So much for freedom of speech and expression. :uhoh3:

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 9, 2004

This type of incident gives Americans a bad press abroad.

We all know that not all Americans are flag waving xenophobes, but unfortunately it's incidents like this that get the news coverage and perpetuate the sterotype.

It puts me in mind of two incidents I read about recently - a store in NYC that forbade two hispanic employees from speaking Spanish to other in their lunch break, and a restaurant in Arizona (? could have been another state) which sacked two employees for refusing to sign an English only clause. Hello?

wmarat, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2004

This type of incident gives Americans a bad press abroad.
We all know that not all Americans are flag waving xenophobes, but unfortunately it's incidents like this that get the news coverage and perpetuate the sterotype.
It puts me in mind of two incidents I read about recently - a store in NYC that forbade two hispanic employees from speaking Spanish to other in their lunch break, and a restaurant in Arizona (? could have been another state) which sacked two employees for refusing to sign an English only clause. Hello?

I've been in France and in many other countries and if we had arranged competition in xenofoby, France would have been the champion.

Sorry

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2004

The state of Florida is just packed with regulated Housing situations, to make sure that everything is neat and uniform. Another reason that I left.

fergus51 · Apr 9, 2004

I think it says something that this person tried to portray it as a matter of nationalism when it's really just about a homeowners group. This is why many people choose not to live in those communities. I did once and got complaints about my mailbox and the fact that I had a yellow spot on my lawn. It was from my Chihuahua and was about an inch wide. I sold not long after. If you can't live by the rules it's better to save yourself the headache and move!