RIBBONS: Yellow's not mellow

I’ve been thinking about this for many years. There is a song that many people embrace in America: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘round the Ole Oak Tree.” Now, how many people have listened to the words?

“I’m coming home, I’ve done my time.”

Now why do we want to admire someone who has just gotten out of prison? Sure, many of us know people who have done time. But for what?

Today we use these ribbons to stylize everything. Are we forgetting that people go to prison for rape? For murder? For pedophilia?

I feel a sense of disgust when I see ribbons of any color as a remembrance of anything that people feel is important. If you want to remember people who have just gotten out of prison, oh yeah. Yellow should be their color. The color of lily-livered liver lipped well you know.

BETSY ROSENBERG

Rathdrum