Flying the Flag

A couple of weeks ago we decided to replace our tattered old U.S. flag. We searched on the Internet for a high-quality flag and pole, and we found one we liked on Amazon — it was pricey, but had all the things we were looking for. When we got our order (more on that below), we were very pleased with the quality of the product. The flag is made from very heavy material, it is sewn beautifully (nearly everything is double-stitched), and the stars are embroidered. The flagpole spins very easily, which should keep the flag from wrapping around the pole. And the mounting bracket looks like it would hold up a ton, and its angle is easily adjustable. I put it up this morning, and Old Glory never looked better at our home.

When we initially received this order, there was a problem: the only part in the box was the spinning flagpole. This is when one always gets that sinking feeling…"Oh, no! Now I’ll have to go through some horrible hassle to straighten it out — if the vendor even will fix it!” So you can imagine my pleasant shock when I called the customer service 800 number, and got an actual person on the first ring. And the further shock when, after I described my problem, that person immediately said “That’s our problem, we’ll take care of it.” I was starting to wonder if I was hallucinating when the customer service person said they’d get it right out in a priority shipment, and I’d have it the day after next. And sure enough, on the promised date the box showed up, with the right stuff in it — along with a handwritten note that said:

Apologies for the goof. I’m the culprit.

Signed by the fellow who made the mistake.

That’s what I call excellent customer service. The company is called “Thompson Flag and Banner", though on Amazon they seem to go by “The Flag Center”. Either way, I know where I’m shopping the next time I need a flag…

Jonny Rebel

A few days ago I blogged about Jodi Burnett’s death at the hands of the reckless, thoughtless, and irresponsible Jonathan Dallo. A couple of things have happened since then that I thought you should know about.

First, this morning I read an anonymous comment on my earlier blog:

I totally agree with you! I too am sick of seeing people drive the way Jonathan Dallo did that morning. I did a little research on Jonathan…he was profiled on an episode of Dateline in which it was mentioned that he has a history of speeding tickets (do a Google search on Jonny Dallo to read for yourself). If this is true, why the heck did he still have a license? And why the heck did his parents allow him to drive their car at all if he has a history of being reckless? Perhaps if the legal system and his parents would’ve been more strict on Jonathan, Jodi would be alive today.

I can’t prove it with absolute certainty, but my commenter appears to be correct. I tried that link, and got several articles about “Jonny Dallo", who is the right age to be the same person as Jonathan Dallo. If Jonny Dallo is the same person as the Jonathan Dallo who killed Jodi Burnett, then the story is actually worse than I had thought, just as my commenter said. One of the articles refers to the “…pile of speeding tickets…” that Jonny Dallo had accumulated at age 17!. Other articles refer to his troubled and rebellious nature — being expelled from a special school, general tendencies to disobey rules and constraints, etc. Jonathan/Jonny was a ticking time bomb…

Second, I took a drive past the scene of the crime yesterday. Something jumped right out at me that was missing from all the articles I read: Jonathan Dallo wasn’t just passing at 100 MPH. He was passing on a blind curve! His driving behavior was even more irresponsible and idiotic than I thought.

Jodi’s death was already terribly tragic. If this is all true about Jonathan Dallo, then her death was even more unnecessary — as a society, we failed her. We failed to disarm the ticking time bomb named Jonathan Dallo, and she lost her life because of our failure.

Don’t you think we should demand laws that would stop the Jonathan Dallos of the world when they’ve demonstrated their inability to drive safely? And then actually enforce those laws? I think this would work just like Rudy Guilliani’s cleanup of New York — don’t let drivers get away with the misdemeanor-level offenses. Crack down on them, and the other crime will stop as well. I’m writing my state and county officials today — won’t you do the same? Let them know how you feel!