Quite A Spectacle

The greatest spectacle in sports racing, the Indy 500, is a very cool experience. I've been going every year now for 13 years or so and I appreciate it more and more every year. However this year I noticed some things.

First off, if you don't wear sunscreen and you drink lots of beer, you will be burnt to a crisp. Sadly I am more red than a ripe tomato right now, and I hate the feeling of sunburn.

Second, someone will fall down the stairs and start a fight, and it will be glorious.

Third, you will see at least 2 sets of boobs that not even the most desperate man would want to see.

Fourth, nobody goes for the cars, they go for the crash.

Five, it is a very patriotic event. I think I removed and replaced my hat five or six times before the race even started. Which is fine, honor our country and everything, but I have a little I want to say about that.

Before the race starts they recognize several high ranking army officials, sang all our anthems and themes, and have a prayer said for the racers. After all is said and done, and the racers are getting ready to take their pace laps, F16s or Stealth bombers fly overhead. Which is really amazing for several reasons. I sit right in turn 4, and that is where the fly over starts, and I will probably not get a chance to see these machines that close up again.

However, this is where I will stray a bit from my point. Since today is Memorial Day, and I have someone that I need to remember today I will post just a little bit about a skewed image of patriotism. Now, before all you hardcore, red, white, and blue bleeding patriots grab your guns and come hunt me down let me explain something. This is just an observation, no need to get upset, I feel very privileged and honored to live in this country.

That being said, I want to voice this observation I made over yesterday's race. We're a scary country. When the F16s flew overhead yesterday I felt a sense of pride, however I also thought about how this looks to someone from another country. Say you are from a country that doesn't know our patriotic ways, and your first event is the Indy 500. When you sit and watch the entire stand of people cheer as this giant death bird flies overhead what do you think is running through that person's mind?

I would imagine that they would see us as some insane war bent country that worships death. Then if that person looked up our history and read about some of the wars we've been in, especially the most recent, they would have a very skewed image about America.

To us, those F16s symbolize our freedom, our democracy, what makes us an amazing country. I can see why some countries fear us, or why people seem to have a bad image of us from their perspective.

I'm not saying that we should change the way that we honor our fallen, or even cheer for what we have fought to earn, I'm just saying that we should step outside ourselves for a bit and try to see us from another perspective. I hope that everyone has an excellent Memorial Day!

I will leave you today with one of my favorite short films...George Lucas In Love.