Going to the races and a little lack of respect

With the grace of a ballerina I dialed the phone and managed to win tickets to a local race track for Saturday night.

I have never been to a track to watch the races. I've watched Nascar on tv. I root for Dale Jr., and loved Dale Sr., but have never attended a race in person.

But, these weren't Nascar cars. These were Sprint cars, Modifieds, Lite-Modifieds, etc. Nevertheless, they go fast and they are LOUD, especially the Sprint cars. If you have never been to a race before, turning up your car stereo full blast doesn't come close. Maybe standing under the fireworks display at the Washington Monument would be similar.

We were approximately 15 feet away from the track. Separated by a short wall and a chain link fence that was about 10-12 feet high.

We sat on a straight-away between turn 4 and turn 1.

Me: Think a car can jump that fence?

Hubby: We're safe.

Me: Okay. (Though I'm not reassured as these cars are flying around turn 4 balanced on 3 tires).

Hubby: But there was a woman killed down there (points to the direction of turn 4) when a tire flew off a car and over the fence.

So, I am now thinking about an escape route and how fast you would have to duck and cover if you saw something happening. Two accidents happened in turn 4 and I didn't see them, so I know that you could not plan for an escape route. One I did see, and it wasn't pretty.

Also, and I just want to throw this in. The barricade and the fence are next to each other. There were many small children there and they were standing with their faces right up to the fence. What were the parents thinking? There were also a couple of newborns there as well. Not the place for newborns to be.

Any who, someone from the track finally noticed the kids and shooed them away from the fence.

So, where does the respect or lack of come in?

After the heat races for qualifying and a dash for cash race they run the main event race. The announcer asks everyone to stand and to "please remove your hats" for the National Anthems of Canada and the USA. We stand, remove hats, listen to the Canadian National Anthem and then there is a short pause before our National Anthem plays. From behind us we hear: "Remove your hat asshole." Apparently some gent decided that, yes, he would stand, but no he wasn't going to remove his hat, and another gent was calling him out on it.

There was no fight, and I didn't really want to glance over my shoulder to see if he removed his hat or not.

This is just one incident that makes me wonder what this world is coming to? Growing up I was always taught to respect the flag and the country? Is it so hard to reach up and remove a hat for 2 minutes?

They also did a moment of silence and there were people laughing and talking during that.

I really believe that respect for our country and the people that inhabit it has gone out the window.

But I know where I stand and know that my daughter will be brought up respecting the flag and our country.

Let me leave you with one word:

EARPLUGS!!