Till the boys come home...

Today was red Friday, and once again, the kids went off to school wearing red for daddy. And I spent much of today working on my Canadian line of signs. I couldn't help but think how patriotism in Canada has become much more visible since the Red Friday campaign began in earnest. Canadians are by our nature, quietly patriotic. Red and white are normally brought out on Canada Day, or for the Olympics. Our children are among the privileged few who were taught about patriotism in preschool, by a most wonderful woman. The Queen's picture still graced the wall of her classroom, and everyday they sang God Save the Queen as well as Oh Canada. She taught them about respect for our Queen, our country and our flag. Katty still marches around singing, "They call it Canada, but I call it home or The Maple Leaf Forever." Since the mission changed in Afghanistan, Canadians have become much more openly patriotic. Never before have I seen as many Canadian flags as I have the last year. Everywhere I went today, houses and businesses were decked out in red and white, many with signs saying "Support Our Troops." Yellow ribbons fluttered in the breeze, and people everywhere were wearing their red t-shirts in support of our troops. Everywhere, except Tim Horton's that is. How ironic is that Tim Horton's employees are not allowed to wear red t-shirts on Fridays. Corporate executives feel that allowing them to do so would be making a political statement (the presence of a Tim Horton's outlet in Kandahar is not making a political statement, however). Employees are however, permitted to wear red ribbons. American companies such as Wal-Mart, and McDonald's, allow their employees to wear red to support Canadian soldiers. How sad is it that a Canadian business such as Tim Horton's, won't allow their employees to do the same. Actually, it's not just sad, its wrong. Elizabeth asked me today how long Canadians would wear red on Fridays. Connor answered for me, "Until the very last soldier comes home!"

"All of our freedoms were created by the men and women who in our history were prepared to lay down their lives for those freedoms." Prime Minister Harper