The Bicentennial and beyond

Lucy and Corbett talk about the 200th and 250th birthday for the United States and all the problems that come with getting older.  Lots of talk about what is appropriate to wear and burn.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Welcome to What You Missed When You Didn't Exist. I am Corbett and I am 54.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

And I'm Lucy, and I am twenty-five. Quarter life crisis coming at you.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

What you missed when you didn't exist is a show where we cover everything that covers from 1970 to the year 2000. Time when I was alive and Lucy was not. So I'm always talking about things that she missed out on that somehow connect back to things we're doing now. Because believe it or not, history kind of does that.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

And this time around, I'm talking about the bicentennial.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

For those who realize this, the year is 2026 currently, in case you were somehow drifting off into the future by now. In 2026, it is the 250th year for the anniversary of America. America was formed in 1770. Well, technically it wasn't really formed until 1780. It doesn't matter. 1776 is considered our declaration of independence. We move forward from there. So for simplicity's sake, let's just say 1776 and we're good. Yes, I know historians are out there saying that is not accurate.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Well, if you've listened to the rest of our show, we're we're trying our best.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

We're more accurate than drunk people at a bar. How about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Hey, we're more accurate than drunk history? That's pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

I don't know. Drunk history is fairly accurate, surprisingly.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Hey, we're giving ourselves credit here. Don't don't dilute the credit. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Anyway, the bicentennial. Bicentennial was fifty years ago.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Huh? So you're 50 years older?

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah. Sucker. As you laughed at me earlier. You were just five. There's no way you could remember that. There were fireworks and flags going everywhere. Um, every time I turned around, there was some sort of the bicentennial quarter, the bicentennial half dollar. There was some kind of bicentennial something, and it took me forever to figure out like I don't understand what is a it's a bicentennial? What's what's a what is that? And I had to go through and get explained to because I was not knowing. But the bicentennial was pretty momentous, just to just to say, as far as at the time of it was kind of neat. And I I hope the 250th is somewhat patriotic. Everybody probably could use a little bit of patriotism somewhere down the road. Uh it's nice to feel like, hey, we fought for something and it it's still here, mostly.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Let's stay dedicated to it.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Let's let's hold tight for a minute. The the bicentennial happened in 1976, so 200 years past 1776.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

July 4th, 1976, to clarify.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

It's a big deal. I remember the time there were fireworks on TV, and it was neat to watch them because it was the first time I'd seen orchestrated firework events as a kid. That was like a big deal. Lucy, I know we went to like the Fourth of July events in Jackson uh and as kids, and those were probably better than what I saw over like oh the New York Harbor or even in town uh back in Tyler. But it was still pretty amazing to see these big, you know, pow type fireworks. Because as a kid, all you see is the little skyrocket type stuff and sparklers, and you're like, oh, this is fun. And you see the big ones go off and go, Whoa, I didn't know they could be military great. It is more serious, it is intense, it's kind of cool. It's fun to watch. I will say one thing that I thought was interesting that currently now totally accepted in the time was not flying because the patriotism was was there, but there was I I know this is hard to believe that there were old people then. No way, yeah, no way in in the past there were old people, and currently there are still old people. Somehow that worked out. I don't know, but there were old people, specifically uh in the south. It was a big deal. People would you'd see these young people come up with flags, or or they'd either take flags or they would paint flags into their clothing.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Oh and the disrespect.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

The disrespect. That was a massive, like, you don't wear the flag, you hippie loser. Like, it's liberty, we get freedom, we can do what we want, and and there was a bit of contention there. Also, as a kid, kind of confusing. I don't understand. It's cloth, can't they just wear the cloth? Like, not as cool as you would think with the older crowd.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Crazy.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Flash forward to 50 years later. Now people wear it all the time. Indeed. The funny thing is, it was like 100% reversed in 1970 or 1976. It was 100% reversed. Anyone who's wearing the American flag is a hippie loser who's just trying to get by on the government, and that has changed. Mm-hmm. Indeed. So that that's me telling you what the future is like, but hey, maybe maybe you tell me. Is there is there um oh my word. Do you do you feel a sense of disrespect on the on the flag's part? Or do you like it's a flag? I'm I'm this is me legitimately asking you because I didn't really force this on you as a as a child. They're like, you respect the flag and you do this and you do that. I was kind of put into that position as a kid, so I had to be told. You know, that was a thing. You don't you don't disrespect the flag by wearing it.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

I think in it depends. Because growing up in school, we always had to say the Pledge of Allegiance, which was something that we're just all conditioned and used to, and it's something that boggles every international person I've ever run into. Like we can just recite it off the top of our noggins, and they think we're in some weird American cult because we all know the Pledge of Allegiance.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Something that's interesting is like moving to Texas, they all say the Texas Pledge, which is similar to the Pledge of Allegiance, but a little bit different. And growing up, we could say the Pledge of Allegiance all throughout high school if we wanted, because it was just part of the announcements. Um, but you could choose to not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance starting probably in middle school or high school, but that was around the same time that Colin Kaepernick was not standing up for the Pledge of Allegiance. I don't remember what year that happened. And so I think there's there's been this shift because I think a lot of people don't feel like America is standing up for America anymore. And so it's kind of different. And I don't really remember wearing a lot of American flag stuff because I thought it was tacky, and I just found creative ways to wear red, white, and blue that looked good and fashionable instead of just putting the flag on my body. I think it just depends on the person that you talk to. I think wearing the American flag is fine. You're showing national pride. I think you're not burning it, you're not wearing it the wrong way. I think some people in the military still find it offensive. I don't know. That's about all I know.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Well, in the military, you're trained to protect the flag. Oh, everybody who are if somebody drops it, you pick it up immediately. It's it's kind of uh like respect of the your your marker. The the national flag, absolutely, but you also have like your platoon flags and things like that. You have things that you use to mark spaces and hold territories, and your flag is that that symbol.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah. Well, in the military, you also work together a lot more as a team because you have to for survival purposes.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Well, and also military-wise, you're trained to raise and lower the flag every day because it doesn't fly in the middle of the night, and it doesn't uh it's the one thing I gotta admit, uh this has nothing to do with wearing the flag. This is just the way people treat like they just put up the flag and like let it sit there until it like sun bleaches or rots.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

And you're supposed to raise it every morning, lower it every night, fold it up and put it away. Uh you know, all these things that are generally expected, but most people just kind of flap it around like it doesn't matter anyway. That's a bit confusing as an adult. As a kid, I thought it was confusing just because it's kind of that argument of the flag burning. Do we have freedom to do what we want to with the flag, or are we not allowed to do anything with the flag because we respect it so much? And that was kind of the argument I was hearing back and forth between the people who were like, we should have the right to wear the flag versus you know the people of the time that were like, No, you shouldn't have the right to wear the flag because it's a symbol of honor, respect, and all this. I get both points. So I'm not like really, oh, this is terrible. It's more of a man, this is a really confusing world.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

No, that makes sense. Because I I think some people could say this, well, I don't know if that's that might be opening up a different can of worms. Yeah, probably. People wearing like a a cross. Because some people like choose to wear the cross because as like the reminder, but I wonder if like wearing it in essence could also be seen as disrespectful because we didn't give up that sacrifice, but that's a whole different can of worms.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Well, it depends on where your symbolism comes from. And I guess I mean that kind of goes into just walking into a different culture altogether. Because if you walk into like different cultures, don't handshake, they don't like Japanese culture, it's more appropriate to bow than it is to handshake.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

They still accept and understand it, but it's it's a different cultural understanding of how it works. Now we're going from like generational understanding from the old ways to the current ways, which are different ways.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

I guess I'm jumping off the subject because ultimately the whole point of this is to talk about America's birthday party.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Coming up to a place near you.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

In America. In America to me.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

In America, in America, in America. This the bicentennial was a big deal. 200 years. Believe it or not, it is hard to imagine 200 years passing because we don't live that long. But also, you look at any other country, and there is a very few, there are like literally less than a few dozen, maybe, of countries that are younger than 200 years.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Yeah, they've been reformed or rebordered or whatever. But there are many, many much older countries that have been handed off regimes, but the countries been there. America literally just popped up right over the top of what was left of the Native Americans.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

The Canadians, the United States, or Canada, the United States, and Mexico all popped up overnight practically 200 years ago. We're we're the young nation, if anything. At least compared to the rest of the world. And that's scary and neat. You know, hey, we're the new experiment in society. Hope we make it.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Ay, you. Well, the last time we had a democracy was in Greek times, and they only survived for 250 years.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Really?

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

250? It seems like they lived a lot longer than that.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Nope. That's how long democracy lasts before the Romans they like collapsed on it.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

Dom to death.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Yeah, pretty much. Oh wait, this year's 250 years.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

Oh boy. You flag wearing hippie.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Oh my word. We deserve it. I don't know. I think this year should be exciting for 250 years. People have been talking about it for a while. Though I think it's interesting that we celebrate America by setting off a bunch of fireworks.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Why is that?

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Is it supposed to be in remembrance of all the gunfire that was shot? Because it seems very like triggering.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Uh, it is. No, you've you've been where we're at now, and I gotta admit, the barrage of fireworks going on all night long is unnerving. And I've I've been in very little firefight, so that's uh that's a lot. But beside that point, I think it was really just brought about because of um the the Chinese people. They had fireworks as a special special events and stuff, and we see them and go, hey, that's great, we should do that. Nothing like remembering the fight for freedom, like big explosions in the sky. That's crazy. For that year, as a as a just general memory, there was like a parade. I feel like there's a parade all summer long.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Really?

SPEAKER_02 13:14

I mean, just every day I could. I mean, I'm probably exaggerating just because of my age and the time frame. But I remembered there was like a bicentennial, it's the bicentennial parade. It's the local bicentennial parade, it's the state bicentennial parade, it's the national bicentennial parade. Every time I turned around, there was a bicentennial parade.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Some kind of celebration, some type of event, some type of whatever. There was um oh, they made a special logo for the bicentennial. It was like a star with red, white, and blue striping. Looks kind of like I don't know, it kind of reminded me of the Olympics, I guess. Well, no, not really, because that's all hoops. But this the star is like a an a right angle line, another right angle line, another right angle line. This one's rounded, but you can probably look it up and it's okay. I don't know. It's not absolute, it's not uh a a necessity, but it's kind of a huh. That's that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Interesting. I remember we had celebrated the bicentennial celebration for Jackson, didn't we? Because that was that happened recently.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Because I remember there was a big deal when yeah, that was early 2000s, I want to say. Like 2004.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Because I think that's when we were both working at the hotel or something, and it was like a really big deal. And I remember the parades.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

I I could be wrong. Uh it's maybe it was like 2014 or yeah, I think so. Because you had to be old enough to work there and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

I think it's cool to celebrate things that happened so long ago.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Well, I mean, it's like having a having a birthday. Having a birthday party, yeah. Basically it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Yeah, interesting.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Oh, okay, okay. Side note of information that I didn't quite realize. I I mean, I obviously should have known. Schoolhouse rock for the bicentennial put out the America, the the American history schoolhouse rock stuff. So the I'm just a bill, we the people. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

The bangers. Wow. Because no one remembers any other schoolhouse rock thing other than those.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

No, I still like all the addition and number ones. I kind of got stuck in my head for some dumb reason. The conjunction junction. I mean, as an English teacher, you've got to live by that one.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

That's true. I do know that one. But even my kids know I'm just a bill and we the people.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Really?

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yes. But they don't remember any of the other ones.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Well, schoolhouse rock is a fun one to go by, but that's uh that was kind of all through the 70s. We have to cover schoolhouse rock sometime, too.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

That would be fun.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

But anyway, 50 years ago was a 200th anniversary, and this year will be a 250th anniversary.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

250. It's gonna be so exciting.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

You think so? I hope so.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

I don't know. I'll be on my honeymoon.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

So screw you guys. I'm going to Mexico.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

I don't know. It should be fun. I'm sure you'll get all to relive all of your fireworks trauma all over again. It'll be so exciting.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

You know, it's funny that it is patriotic to think about. Like, oh, it's uh yeah, we've been around. We're so America is so cool, we're here, and like ultimately it was 250 years ago that we gave England the finger.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Like that's that's what the celebration is. Like, we started a bar room fight that covered our country.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Yeah, that's fine. Hey, it's been 250 years since a bunch of old white men went into a room together and signed a piece of paper. Boom.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Yeah. Here's the celebrating old white men in rooms. Nothing wrong there. Oh man, we're gonna we're gonna hear about that one.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yes, we are, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

I gotta admit, for us it's about as political as it gets.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yep.

unknown 17:13

Eek.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

Well, for what you missed when you didn't exist, I would say enjoy your party. Because you've earned it.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

250 years. Woo-hoo. Go do something. Fun and exciting.