TA In Denton Tx Refuses To Fly Flag?

I was alerted to this by a friend of mine on facebook, and at first I assumed it was one of those urban legends that get cycled around the trucking industry. I decided to get the "who's who and what's what" on the matter, and nope. It's a true story, and in fact it was worse than the headline would imply. It wasn't just that they didn't have a flag up, but when some enterprising driver found out that there was a Marine Veteran working in the parking lot, he decided to take matters into his own hands and raise Old Glory high. The driver (as seen in the video below) climbed the flagpole to put a rope in place, then talked to the store manager about allowing the Marine to raise the flag. She declined the offer, so he raised it himself. And that is when the Truck Stop took it down.

This led to outrage on the TA Facebook page, and pictured right is what resulted from that. Here is how the whole thing went down (from Corporate perspective) on their facebook page. On Wednesday, the following was posted.

We hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend and that you were able to pick up a commemmorative [sic] free window decal at a TA site. As part of our dedication to and respect for drivers, and in recognition of our active and veteran service men and women, we remind all of our sites to fly the American flag on designated days, including Memorial Day. If you saw a site that did not comply with that policy, we sincerely apologize.

Followed by this on Thursday.

TA Denton's new flag! This location is now flying the red, white and blue proudly over the site. Thank you all for your comments and patriotism!

But perhaps the most impressive thing from TA was the following.

“Despite the dangers associated with a customer climbing a pole, we applaud the actions of the driver inasmuch as he reminded all of us that issuing a policy is no substitute for action. It was a poignant reminder of the efforts and sacrifices made by service men and women; we will redouble our efforts to ensure this failure will not occur again.”

In a lawsuit happy world, that was farther than one would expect the corporation to go on this one, and I am glad they did. I like TA and use their facilities a lot out here on the road. As for the Denton Texas location, they won't likely see much of my business in the future. Corporate may have stepped up to the plate, but the notion of a damaged flag pole being an excuse is unacceptable. Watching the video, you can see it withstood the weight of the driver who climbed it quite well. I think it could handle the flag.

TA Denton? You are pinheads. Driver and Wal Mart? You are patriots. Bill O'Reilly, where are you at on this one? It's tailor made, baby. It's a hanging curve ball up in the zone, and you whiffed. Your loss, my gain.