Last week we were treated to an unrivaled national anthem fiasco when tenor Remigio Pereira changed one of the lyrics of O Canada to make a personal, and poorly considered, political statement.
Incidents like this are fodder for all kinds of discussion, not the least of which is discontinuing the practice of singing national anthems at sporting events. Seriously, we don’t do this at any other kind of event so why sports?
So, in honour of Pereira’s spectacularly poor judgment and abhorrent behaviour, here are my Top 4 things that have become meaningless due to their ubiquity.
Anthems
Like so many of our patriotic traditions, we have the United States to thank for this one. Although the Star Spangled Banner had been played sporadically at sporting events before, it was during World War II that it became standard at all baseball games.
Ostensibly, it was a temporary war-time measure, which makes sense, but for some reason it just stuck. Now every baseball, football, basketball, hockey and other game at virtually every level has to have an anthem, sometimes two as was the case before the MLB All-Star game, hence the aforementioned fiasco.
The Canadian anthem was sung that night even though there was only one Canadian in the game. There were 15 Dominicans in the game. Don’t all anthems matter? I’m really sorry about that, sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Of course, the anthem wasn’t sung for Saunders, it was for the only Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, who, while they do definitely play in Canada, also have precisely one Canadian, the self-same Saunders on their roster.
It’s just one of those things we do because it’s one of those things we do and consequently has become meaningless until someone like Pereira comes along and screws up.
Even worse, is “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch. The “stretch” used to be a fun time. The crowd would sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” What was a light-hearted moment celebrating the game has become a sombre, hyper-patriotic
Its origins are also becoming clouded by time. In 2011, it was an understandable response to the attack on the World Trade Center. It is hard to believe that was 15 years ago. Maybe it is time to get back to fun.
Flags at half-mast
Along the same lines as anthems, flying flags at half-mast has become so common, half the time I don’t even bother asking why any more. Once reserved for the deaths of heads of state, this honour is now also used to commemorate a dozen different occasions including, but not limited to Workers’ Mourning Day, National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, Police and Peace Officers’ National Memorial Day, Remembrance Day and National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
In addition to those mandated times, we are also doing it on an ad-hoc basis, such as for the victims of the Orlando Shootings and the Nice attacks. I am not saying these are not worthy occasions or causes, but honestly, shouldn’t we find other ways of calling attention to them. Otherwise, we might as well just permanently fly our flags at half-mast because there is always some tragedy to commemorate.
Standing ovations
The standing ovation was originally a spontaneous reaction to a performance so well-executed that it warranted something beyond seated, polite applause.
It has now become so de riguer at cultural events, it is often not even reserved for the end of a show, but gets peppered throughout. Even little Suzy, who gets up on stage and stammers her way through “Sun Comes Out Tomorrow” can almost be assured of the standing O.
I am sure little Suzy is a lovely child, but I can guarantee she is not deserving of this level of accolade.
And since it has become mandatory, what they heck are we supposed to do when a performance truly is outstanding?
Tipping
Tipping is akin to the standing ovation in that its original purpose was to reward service above and beyond the call of duty. Now, I even see tip jars at convenience stores and other retail outlets.
Exactly, what am I supposed to be tipping these people for? Passing me a Slurpee with flair? Ringing up my purchase with extraordinary efficiency.
Unfortunately, a large part of why we tip is to help make up for the fact so many businesses refuse to pay their employees a decent wage. That is correct, refuse. They will make all kinds of excuses of course, market forces, blah, blah, blah.
You will note, however, when hard times hit, these corporations don’t cut back on the dividends to their shareholders or hold back the CEO’s ridiculous bonus. Nope, they lay off the little guy.
