Interesting stars

Yesterday we went to a craft fair held at a local primary (elementary) school. Andrew scored a job that pays him 50 bucks for 8 hours of unspecified work. Not bad money for a 14 year old unskilled worker methinks.

Not having grown up in this country you'll understand that I've spent very little time in a US elementary school. The fact that during the school day they're locked up like Fort Knox makes it all the harder to actually see what they're like inside. And here in Arizona, due, I'm told, to climate, most of the elementary schools I drive past look rather like secure biological research facilities.

So there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to accompany Andrew to his first day of paid work. Fascinatingly kitsch rubbish for sale. The sad thing was that my wife would pick up this or that knick-knack and say she liked it. After about the fifth such knick-knack I asked for a divorce. Just kidding!

Fortunately some of the larger school indoor spaces were open. One such space was the auditorium, packed with stalls selling all kinds of rubbish. But what drew my attention was a large US flag on the wall. US flags are, of course, rampant here but this one was different. The stars were hands but hands in a specific gesture that made me laugh. For they were in a gesture that isn't offensive at all here but is very offensive where I come from. The middle finger and forefinger raised in a V - and the back of the hand toward the viewer.

The V sign associated with Victory is the same gesture but with the palm of the hand toward the viewer. Reverse the hand and it becomes a gesture somewhat equivalent to 'flipping the bird' (all fingers down but for the middle finger).

I'm told that the reversed V sign originates from the wars between Britain and France; it seems that the British had the long bow and the French didn't. So the French, whenever they captured an archer, would cut off those two fingers. Thus, showing the two fingers to the foe at the end of a battle became a symbol of defiance and, over time, devolved into an obscene gesture.

I'd gotten into the habit of 'flipping the bird' back in Australia before I moved here. A fine compromise between insult and the currying of favour and a gesture that carried no meaning. And a habit that I needed to break once I got here. Fortunately the mere fact of being here made me hyperaware of not accidentally saying or doing something that in my culture would be harmless but that might get me into hot water here.