July 4th, 1976...

It was July 4th, 1976. "Silly Love Songs" by Wings was all over the radio. I lived in Pensacola, Florida. I was a cub scout. I was in the city parade. I was informed I would be the one to carry the American flag for our troop. I was told not to let the flag touch the ground, or it would be a sacrilege. I was proud of the honor. It was hot, in the 90's, very humid. It was Pensacola after all. We started walking...and walking...and walking. The music keeping our pace. After an hour, the weight of the flag was starting to get unbearable. I suddenly realized, I was not being honored to carry the flag, but punished. "Don't let the flag touch the ground...it will be a sacrilege." The phrase kept echoing through my mind. Sweat oozing out of every pore, and dizzy I mumbled, "This heat is killing me and the flag is gonna touch the ground. No. I'll pass out first." I winced...

Well I did it! I made it! No American sacrilege was made by our troop! George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Spencer Tracy, and John Wayne we're not disappointed in me. I imagined them all silently nodding in approval with wearing slight smiles. Yes!!!

I promptly drank as many cups of lemonade as my stomach could hold and promptly threw it up. I would not learn from this mishap for a few more years. I had to repeat it a few more times. I needed scientific verification by repeating said procedure to get true results! *laughing*

At the end of the parade were all going to be given our rewards for our candy sales we made during the Spring. I was to receive a leather wallet for my efforts. I was the lead seller. Our Den Mother passed out the rewards, except mine. Matter-of-factly she said, "Your wallet never came in. Sorry." I was speechless. What do you say to that? *sigh* That's how the cookie crumbles. A while later, drinking Kool-Aid with the rest of my troop, our Den Mother's son had a brand new leather wallet sticking out from his back pocket. Coincidence? I never said anything. Though I quit going to cub scouts after that day.