Shoot To Kill

Driving home along the parkway I passed a woman and apparently her boy, who looked to be around 11 or 12. They were standing on the meridian strip between east- and westbound lanes waiting for the traffic to slow so that they could cross over. The woman was holding a rolled up American flag. Many had been posted along the parkway in between the "Kilgore" or "Kaine" for governor signs.

In the breakdown lane a blue family-van idled across from where they were waiting to bust their move, it's emergency lights flashing and the tailgate open. On the side was stickered an image of a large soccer ball. I remember thinking, and not in words necessarily, "Oh how fucking suburban can you get?"

In the rear-view mirror I watched them scramble across the parkway, clutching their looted American flag. I kid you not.

And I wondered: If a Zero issues a "Zero Tolerance" directive, does anybody pay attention?