One Language One Flag (?!?) Not for Me

       
I haven't mentioned this truck I passed as we were coming home from the week of language camp we spent with my aunt recently.  We were on a rural highway to avoid traffic from the busy interstate, and were also there to enjoy a ride in the countryside (though both mis hijos ended up sleeping soundly on the way).  A small, white pick-up truck was coming from the other direction and I quickly noticed that it had writing on the top of the windshield above the driver.

In all capitals and white print (to match the truck of course), was "ONE LANGUAGE ONE FLAG". 

We do live in America, and everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Obviously this one is not my own. I thought it super ironic that on the way home from a week I spent away from home, just so my 5 year old could practice Spanish a bit more, that I would come across this particular vehicle, with these words posted so prominently on the windshield.

Me quede sin palabras.....

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn other languages and that I can teach my own children and those in the school system, another language as well.

Both my children are consistently taught the "Pledge of Allegiance" (as soon as my mom combs their hair, she stands them up one-at-a-time on the kitchen counter to recite it enthusiastically....I may need to share a clip of this later on!).  The ESL students I teach at school are also taught from a young age to recite the Pledge with their fellow classmates each morning after the morning news, before their classes begin.  They are each "pledging" to the same flag, but have a variety of home languages besides the English they use for the Pledge of Allegiance.

There are many that hold dearly to the "windshield words".  I choose not to focus on them for very long. I feel sad for them, I really do.

Instead, I choose to think, though all do not think as I do, that is precisely what makes life interesting.  We do not all talk the same way, wear the same clothes, or even live the same way.

For me, I choose more than one language....