Half Staff

I asked Jonny first, cause he's my best friend, and I thought he might know.

"Whattaya mean?" he replied. "That's how they do it. That's how they've always done it."

"Yeah, but the line thing goes all the way to the top of the pole," I persisted. "Didja ever look? I looked, and it goes all the way to the top."

"So what?"

"Well, so, they could raise the flag all the way up to the top of the pole, if they wanted," I explained. "But they don't. They never do. They always just raise it half way."

Jonny shrugged. "That's how they do it," he said.

Ok, so Jonny's a kid, just like me. How are we supposed to know about stuff? You had to ask grown-ups, if you wanted to find stuff like that out. I started with my teachers ... but they weren't any more helpful than Jonny.

"That's to teach moderation," suggested Ms. Johnson. "You should never go to extremes. Neither too high nor too low. Just in the middle."

"It's so everyone can see the flag," said Mr. Cooper. "The top of the pole is too high."

"It's too hard to raise the flag that high," said Ms. Peters. "A waste of effort. Just so high, and no higher. That's the thing."

"Then why make the poles so high?" I objected.

"That's just how they do it."

That was pretty much the answer they all gave. I decided to ask Mom and Dad.

I asked Dad first.

"Go ask your mother," said Dad.

"Go ask Grandpa," said Mom. "He's old, and old people sometimes know things."

"Hmm," mused Grandpa. "I think top of the pole is for special occasions. I remember hearing something like that, but I never saw it happen. I guess there were never any special occasions. Ask Great Grandma. She might know something."

So I asked Great Grandma.

"Hmm," she said, a lot like Grandpa. "Yes, I do remember something from my childhood. I was younger than you are now. Only happened once. I asked my mom ... that's your great great grandmother ... why the flags were flying from the tops of the poles."

Then she fell asleep. What a time to nod off! But old people do that, you know. I had to shake her awake.

"Yes, dear?" she snurfed. "What do you want?"

"The flags," I reminded her. "Why were the flags flying from the tops of the poles?"

"Oh, yes," she continued. "My mom told me ... I know this will sound unbelievable ... but it was many years ago, so maybe it was true."

Then she nodded off again. More shaking.

"Hmmph. Yes, dear? Oh, yes. The flags. It seems that on that day ... that day so many, many years ago ... there were no mass shootings. Anywhere. So they raised the flags to the top of the poles. Some really old timers claimed that they used to always fly the flags from the tops of the poles, except when there was a mass shooting, and then they would lower them to half staff. I guess you could say we still do that, huh?"

Then she fell asleep again.

What poppycock. Whoever heard of a day without mass shootings? I guess Jonny was right. That's just how they do it.