Inquirer Story Leads to Concrete Change As Building Replaces Flags

Saturday is flag day, and earlier this week the Inquirer ran a delightful story about a 74-year-old Philadelphia college professor who doesn’t like the poor excuses for American flags flown at the 2100 Parkway Apartments.

And, you know what? Moore College professor Lorie Surnitsky is right! This is not a major issue, but it looks tacky. At least take the flag down when it turns to tatters. It looks tacky in the same way the lack of state flags on Broad looks, or even the inexplicable “BESTY ROSS” sign on South Broad near Oregon.

Well, guess what: Today, The Inquirer reports the flags at 2100 Parkway have been replaced!

Woman's quest to replaced tattered flags atop a Philly apartment building finally fulfilled: http://t.co/FUcqjL3oux pic.twitter.com/wqmpKj39bK

— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) June 13, 2014

Laugh if you want, but, hey: The newspaper wrote a story about some tattered flags, and the next day they were replaced. Real, tangible change from the media. Yesterday’s story ended on a downer: Surnitsky, a stickler for flag code, was done ever attempting to get a flag replaced again. But, the day the Inquirer ran the story, she not only got the flags on 2100 Parkway replaced, she got a note from Bob Brady offering to help her out anytime she sees a tattered flag!

When she checked her in-box in the morning, she found an e-mail from U.S. Rep. Robert Brady’s office awaiting her. […] It’s an issue that Brady said he was passionate about. Weatherworn flags, he said, are a disgrace.

“As long as I’m a congressman,” Brady said, “I will continue to give her the two flags every time these flags wear out.”

Turns out an embarrassed 2100 Parkway had already purchased some new flags, so it wasn’t necessary for Congressional involvement in the issue. But what a masterful politician Brady is: The people who primarily care about flag code are the same people who vote (old people) and Brady just became their friend for life.

Tomorrow is Flag Day, perhaps the least-celebrated national holiday. But there are some ways you can celebrate both this great story and Flag Day in general tomorrow: “Start a patriotic pageant,” Wikihow helpfully notes. Perhaps if you start one, Rep. Brady will emcee it.

[Inquirer’s Thursday Piece | Friday’s Piece]