Middle age plus

Thursday, November 13, 2003

At a recent meeting of the Soroptomist Club in Nevada, we were privileged to have five young women from Cottey College as our guest speakers. Having students from other countries in our midst is one of the many benefits we enjoy in Nevada because of the college.

At the beginning of the meeting we stood, as usual, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. I noticed that one of the guests seemed uncertain about what she should do. The other four stood up with the rest of us, but remained silent and did not put their hands over their hearts. The fifth student saw what her peers were doing and also stood silently. They showed respect for our custom but naturally did not join in the pledge to a flag that was not their own country's symbol.

This started me thinking about the times that we join together in this action. At sporting events, some civic meetings, patriotic gatherings, and national ceremonies, we traditionally say this pledge.

I am not sure if school days begin this way today or not. I remember vividly that in Janney Elementary School in Washington, D.C., we began to learn this process in Kindergarten. It seemed that the flag was always in the corner of the room to our left as we stood facing the blackboard. (And they were black then.)

All through my elementary grades we recited the pledge by beginning with our right hands over our hearts. When we came to the words, "to the flag", we put our right arms out in the direction of the flag, and kept that position throughout the remainder of the pledge. When I reached Junior High School, the procedure was changed. One of my homeroom teachers at Alice Deal Junior High instructed us in the new process of just keeping our hands over our hearts throughout the entire pledge. She explained that the former, hands extended, pose was too much like the Nazi, "Heil Hitler" salute. We would show our respect by leaving our right hands over our hearts.

I have talked to other middle age plus natives who do not remember ever using the extended hand posture. However I did find one or two who were not raised in Missouri who did remember the second action, after I asked them about it.

I double checked with some friends who were in elementary school in Washington about the same years that I was and they also remember the action, but only after I described it to them.

So I am curious if this was really not done in Missouri, if those I have asked have forgotten the details, or if this was something that was only done in certain parts of the nation. I would appreciate my readers' input in this. Do any of you remember the change in how we performed the pledge?

I guess another answer to the question might be that I just dreamed the whole thing. But it was such a vivid dream. I clearly remember a whole classroom of children looking to their left with their arms extended toward the flag. We began our day this way before singing "America the Beautiful" or "My Country Tis of Thee." Then, in spite of the fact that about a fourth of our class were children of the Jewish storeowners along Wisconsin Avenue, we read a verse from the Bible. I suppose they chose a verse from the Old Testament, but I wasn't that aware of the difference then. I usually read, "Jesus wept."