Editor:

As I was driving down North Circle Saturday to the post office, I counted the number of American flags in front of establishments. I was surprised at how few I saw, so I drove around mid-town and counted those, too. I counted 19 American flags. I know many people fly the American flag daily, so I’m assuming the added flags were in remembrance of the victims of 911, the tragedy our country experienced when fanatical extremists demonstrated their declaration of war on the U.S.A. by killing about 3,000 Americans. That’s 3,000 innocent men, women and children (coincidently, about the same number who live up here) whose lives were extinguished in a couple of hours.

I won’t forget the images I saw of this happening on television. I also won’t forget the images of terrorist supporters laughing and dancing in the street when they heard the news.

Why couldn’t many people be bothered to fly the flag on Saturday? On Obama’s most recent apology tour, he said citizens of our country were lazy. I don’t think this is true. And the facts show our society is one of the most productive, hard-working people in the world. A 40- to 48-hour work week is the norm.

Our president might have been more accurate in his statement if he had substituted “indifferent” for the word “lazy.” I suspect too many people are living too much of their lives electronically. We spend so much time on our cell phone, iPad, computer, etc., that we are losing touch with some of the things going on around us and in our world (country).

My wife Elaine and I left Idyllwild Sunday and when we returned that afternoon driving up the highway into town, I had to slow down and say, “Wow, look at that, wow,” at the sight of the Idyllwild Fire Department trucks and the giant American flag flying over the highway. I felt my heart beat faster at this beautiful scene. It made me react so strongly.

When the American flag is flying, it really is saying something to everyone who sees it. Most of us can hear this message or feel it. It’s there, loud and clear. I hope we see more of the flag in the future. IFD hopefully awakened some who may not have given much thought to what Sunday was about. You raised my blood pressure, but I’m fine.

Bob Rahman, Idyllwild