Household denied water because of flags

[Atlas Swallowed]

http://www.chicoer.com/local.news/ci_3133259

Love all the idiots in the USA who are more concerned about a useless rag than the welfare of thier fellow humanbeings.

[Ownthink]

^ Link doesn't bring me to anything but a selection of news sources it seems.

EDIT: http://www.chicoer.com/local_news/ci_3133259

------------------------------

Flag display leads to water cutoff
By LARRY MITCHELL - Staff Writer


Wendy Oshima stands in front of three flags that fly near her Chico home: (left to right) the Cuban flag, the Palestinian flag and the flag used by the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein.(Ty Barbour/Enterprise-Record)



A flag display has led a bottled-water company to stop doing business with a Chico woman.

Wendy Oshima said she's been a good customer of Mount Shasta Spring Water for more than seven years.

She had no problem with the company until Oct. 4.

On that day, she noticed the Mount Shasta delivery man had come by and taken away her empty bottle without leaving a full one.

That evening, her family was preparing dinner when the phone rang, Oshima said.

It was the delivery man.

"Are those your flags?" he wanted to know.

Oshima said they were. She thought he was referring to three flags on poles in a group near her home. They were the Palestinian flag, the Cuban flag and the flag used by the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein.

She'd forgotten about her 9-year-old daughter's small American flag, which was displayed nearby, she said.

The delivery man said her service was being canceled. He started to talk about the reason, but Oshima said she was about to have dinner and didn't have time to talk.

Subsequently, she had a phone conversation with Bill Ellis, general manager of the company, which is based in Redding and distributes bottled water throughout Northern California and Southern Oregon.

"He doesn't want to do business with someone who doesn't support our troops and our government," Oshima said she concluded.

During their talk, Ellis brought up "desecration of the U.S. flag," she said. Later she realized he was referring to a small American flag that belonged to her daughter. It had been set up by a tree near her house.

"This is my daughter's artwork. This is her flag," Oshima said, showing a reporter the roughly 12-by-18 inch flag on a small pole. The little girl had drawn a peace sign over the flag's stripes and also penned in some "happy faces."

Ellis said the delivery man who brought Oshima her water found the flag extremely offensive, in part because his son has been serving in Iraq and because his family includes a number of veterans.

"It kind of hit a nerve with all the employees here," Ellis said.

Oshima said the three foreign flags were purchased by her husband a number of years ago. From time to time, the family would fly one or another. All three went up just over a month ago, on Sept. 11, when the Chico Peace and Justice Center held a benefit event at her place, she said.


Her family flies the flags of Cuba, Iraq and Palestine "to show our solidarity with the people of these countries. These are countries that have long suffered from U.S. foreign policy," she said.

For his company, Ellis said, the issue wasn't Oshima's political views — it was desecrating an American flag. He said in Iraq soldiers are fighting and dying to preserve Oshima's right to freely express her views.

But Oshima said she found it hard to believe anyone can still accept the Bush administration's claims the war in Iraq aims to promote freedom and protect America. "It's about oil, economic interest, global dominance," she said.

Although her family has decided they don't want bottled water anymore, anyway, Oshima insisted her rights had been violated.

It's clear the company dispensed with her as a customer because of her beliefs, she said. "A political viewpoint is no different from someone's religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. There would be a bigger fight if it was based on my ethnicity, but I don't see it as any different."

"I think we have the right to serve who we want," Ellis said. "We would rather do business with people who are more respectful."

Oshima said the incident has been painful. She said she now regrets not having taken the time to engage the delivery man in some "dialogue" on the night he called.

[barret]

This is really sad. That company's obvious discrimination is unacceptable, no matter what country they're in. Plus, I'd believe that it would be bad for business.

[DanRev]

Thats pointless,


He said in Iraq soldiers are fighting and dying to preserve Oshima's right to freely express her views.

At what point was hussein stopping people from flying flags in america?


It sounds like a petty argument to me,
"I dont like you because you're supporting the people my son is killing, so im not going to give you water"

[andrew_the_fox]

jerkoffs. screw them if i were that family i'd tell them to stick their patriotic water up their ass and drink the fucking tap.

[ComradeOm]

So much for the Land of the Free

[Atlas Swallowed]

Land of the free for large proprety owners and the wealthy.

[bolshevik butcher]

It's a sad day for democracy when companies wont do buissness with someone because of their political persuation.