I meant, about flag-buying, was this the ONLY place to spend our money. I'm totally into the value of symbols and talismans--I alternately wear St. Christopher and St. Jude medals, depending on whether I feel more like a traveler or someone in need of intervention in a lost cause. I definitely don't mean to knock flag-buying or displaying--if I'd had a home and a flag whether than a dorm room at the time, I would have put one out, no question. But after awhile, especially when I see them all dragged-out on car antennae and those awful t-shirts and flag-as-thong styles, I really wonder what else we could have done right then.