It was just before July 4 and my son and I were at the gro­cery store. We were get­ting ready for the (long) week­end and had just paid and were leav­ing when we came face-to-face with a store employee.

“Would you like a free flag?”

It was one of those clip-on flags for your car that clip to the win­dow. Being one who never passes on some­thing free, I took one. “Can’t get much bet­ter than a free flag!” I said, leav­ing, smil­ing at the bril­liance of it. Free flags. Who wouldn’t want one?

I didn’t put it on the car. It didn’t even come out of the pro­tec­tive plas­tic wrap­per. Then the 4th came and went, and the flag con­tin­ued to lan­guish in the back of the car.

What do you do with a cheap free flag that you got at the store when its time has come and gone? Do you burn it, like you’re sup­posed to do with other big­ger flags? Do you just pitch it? How respect­ful do you have to be to a free flag?

It ended up in the garbage can today. Take that, free flag.