Why do people fly flags on their houses 7x24?

[enough]

39. This always seems ironic to me. As a Girl Scout in the 1950's, at camp we were taught all kinds

of protocol about the flag. When you can raise it, when you have to lower it (before dark), when you can't fly it at all, exactly how you take it off the pole so as to keep it off the ground, how to fold it, how to carry it away from the flagpole, how to store it until the next time it was raised.

This apparently was seen as a symbolic way of showing respect for the country. It didn't make too much sense to me, and I haven't turned out to be a flag-waving kind of patriot. But I did like the idea of all the ceremonial details, the idea that it was important to do a certain thing correctly, and the idea of having enough self-respect to be careful about something.

It never ceases to amaze me that people seem to think they are showing their patriotism by leaving the flag out all the time, when too me it just looks as if they're saying they don't give a shit about anything, including the flag and the country.